YOLO
by kaibasgirlx
Summary: You only live once. Noel/Yeul, Snow/Serah, Caius/Serah...Caierah? [[COMPLETE!]]
1. Chapter 1

It started with alcohol. Then again, it _always_ starts with alcohol.

Serah ran through the streets, as though someone were chasing her, when in actuality, no one was even glancing in her direction. The morning sunlight was making her eyes hurt, and the vodka-induced hangover she was suffering through did nothing to make things better.

It was just a stupid night together with some friends. Lightning needed a break from all the hard work she'd been doing, so as her younger sister, she had very considerately called up their extended family over for dinner.

She couldn't remember who it was that brought out the first bottle of vodka, maybe it was Lightning herself, but either way, it didn't take long for the drinks to go around.

Serah stopped as she squinted up at the house before her. The numbers swam before her eyes, and she held her head for a moment, as though trying to keep everything from spinning. Finally, she looked up, the gold color slowly morphing into the shape of familiar numbers. 125. Serah blinked. What was their house number again? 1…137! She took off at a run again, trying to reach their house as fast as possible.

She must have drunk more than she'd thought, that was the only explanation for what happened! There was no way in all the seven levels of hell that she would ever…Serah stopped and shuddered, not even able to _think_ of what had occurred in the wee hours of the morning.

All she knew was her life was about to end. When she had opened her eyes, and took in her surroundings, she knew she was screwed. Royally, majorly, undeniably screwed.

There it was! House 137! Serah ran up the front walkway to the modest home and rapped loudly on the door. In her panic and fright, she didn't stop, and continuously pounded her fist against the wooden frame as though it would make its occupants open faster. She didn't care if she was disturbing the neighbors, her life was about to _end_!

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, although it was really only a few moments, the door was pulled open.

"Serah?"

"Yeul!" The pink-haired woman cried in relief, as the former seeress looked at her in surprise. "I…" now that she was finally here, she didn't know how to start. "I did something _horrible_ last night…"

The blue-haired woman didn't answer, waiting for her older friend to continue. Serah felt like she was about to burst out crying, as she took in a deep breath and just let it all out:

"I SLEPT WITH CAIUS BALLAD!"

_SLEPT WITH CAIUS BALLAD!_

_SLEPT WITH CAIUS BALLAD!_

**SLEPT WITH CAIUS BALLAD!**

Yeul blinked, her face betraying no emotion, and it was in that moment that Serah felt a surge of envy for her younger friend's ability to keep up the ultimate poker face in any situation.

"Well?" Serah cried in aggravation, as the silence stretched between them. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

Yeul looked thoughtful for a moment. "At the very least, was it a pleasurable experience?"

"YEUL!" Serah shrieked, as the former seeress stepped aside, indicating that her friend should enter. "Where's Noel?" She asked, as she looked around the small living area.

"In bed. He's still suffering through his hangover from the night before. Though, I'm sure he's awake by now."

As if on cue, they heard Noel calling the blue-haired woman from the bedroom. "Yeul? Who was at the door? I thought I heard Serah's voice shouting."

"It _is_ Serah," Yeul called back.

They heard some shuffling, before Noel came out of the bedroom pulling on a robe. "Did I just hear right? I thought I heard you saying you slept with Caius Ballad," Noel stared at the pink-haired woman.

Serah didn't answer, choosing instead to bury her face in her hands, bemoaning her fate.

"You heard correctly," Yeul took a seat on the couch beside her friend, placing a hand on her back. "In all honesty, Serah, you could have done a lot worst. You could have slept with Sazh."

The pink-haired woman unburied her face from her hands, as she turned to glare in horror at her younger friend. "Yeul, you are _not helping things_!"

Noel, who was evidently still hung over, was trying to make sense of the conversation. "So let me get this straight. Last night, when we all got drunk, you went home with Caius and the two of you ended up banging each other?"

Serah nodded meekly.

Noel's eyes widened as he grabbed his friend by the shoulders and shook her slightly. "Serah! What the hell is wrong with you!? YOU'RE MARRIED TO SNOW!"

"I _know_!" Serah wailed, burying her face in her hands as the brunet let her go. "I don't…I don't know what happened! I don't even know _how _it happened! I just woke up this morning, and instead of it being Snow, I was sleeping next to Caius!"

"Were all your clothing off?"

"Yes!" Serah cried, as tears began to roll down her cheeks. "I don't know how I'm going to explain this to Snow! My life is over!"

"Snow will understand, I'm sure," Noel offered, as he massaged his temples. Serah's crying was only making his headache worst. "I mean, you were drunk, and it's not like he got you pregnant or something."

Serah gasped, as her face paled, blue eyes going wide. "I…OH GD, WHAT IF HE DID!?"

Yeul held Serah's shoulders as the older woman looked on the verge of hysterics. "Serah, calm down! You told me you're taking oral contraceptives, remember?"

"Oh—Oh right! Phew!" Serah's relief lasted for about ten seconds. "But my marriage is ruined! Snow will be so angry! He'll never want anything to do with me again! And Lightning! She'll be so ashamed! She'll probably disown me for this!" Serah buried her face in Yeul's shoulder as she cried, the blue-haired woman placing her arms comfortingly around her, trying to soothe her.

"I think you're exaggerating. If anything, Snow probably slept with someone too," Noel had taken a seat on one of the armchairs, his expression pensive. "Remember Yeul? Lumina was eyeing him the entire night."

"Wait," Serah pulled back, as she turned her tear-stained face to Noel. "_Lumina_ was trying to sleep with Snow?"

"I think everyone ended up sleeping with someone else last night," Yeul remarked, also looking thoughtful. "We were all quite drunk after that third round of truth or dare. Even Fang and Sazh were getting along quite well, when normally they would be at each other's throats."

Serah stared at the former seeress in horror, before turning to look at the brunet who seemed to be staring into space.

"Wait, so you're saying that everyone went home with someone else last night?"

"Yep," Noel confirmed, as he turned to look at her. "I mean, that's what you would expect when you have such a large group of drunks, neh?"

"Who did Lightning go home with?"

"I believe Fang. The two of them were certainly giggling and laughing a lot more than usual," Yeul replied.

"And Snow?"

"I don't remember, I was pretty out of it at that point," Noel answered honestly. "But like I said before, Lumina was a lot friendlier to him than usual."

"I think I saw him leaving with Hope though," Yeul frowned. "I remember Hope saying how he was going to show Snow all of his scientific magic."

Serah's eyes went wide in abject horror. "So _everyone_ had drunk sex with someone else last night?!"

"Seems like it," Noel nodded, completely unfazed.

"Then…how come…why are you two here!?"

"We live here," Yeul chuckled.

"No, I mean, who did you two have drunk sex with?!"

"Each other," Noel smirked.

"That's not what I'm asking!" Serah exclaimed in frustration.

"You mean why is it that Noel and I didn't end up going home with other people?"

"Yes!"

Yeul shrugged. "I didn't really drink much last night, so I was relatively sober by the time everyone was leaving. I was able to make sure that Noel came home with me, and didn't go off with Hope and Snow."

"_That_ is one threesome I'm glad to have missed," the brunet leaned back in his seat.

"I'm sorry, Serah. I took Noel home when I saw him and Snow hugging each other. I did not realize that Caius was making advances towards you."

At the mention of Caius, all of Serah's problems seemed to hit her at once. "Oh my gd, I can't believe I slept with a forty-year-old!"

"_Is_ Caius forty?" Noel looked at Yeul. "He always struck me as older than that."

"I don't know, he never spoke about his age. Only that he is immortal, so I don't suppose that would matter much."

"This is just great! I slept with a guy whose thousands of years older than me!"

"It could've been worst. I mean, at least he wasn't saggy, right?" Noel offered.

Serah looked from the brunet to the former seeress. "I swear, you two are worse than Lightning when it comes to offering any sort of comfort!"

"Nah, Light would just stare at you judgmentally the entire time. It would be ten times as bad. Anyway, I don't really know what else to tell you. You got drunk and slept with a guy who's twenty years older than you. At least it was a guy. I mean, if Snow and Hope really slept with each other, I think both of them are going to try committing suicide."

Despite everything that was happening, Serah gave a small laugh, feeling a bit better. Well, at least until Noel's next words hit her.

"Unless, of course, you enjoyed it."

"What?" Serah exclaimed.

"I'm just saying, if you enjoyed the experience, than it might be a problem."

"Enjoy it?! I don't even _remember_ it!"

"Oh, right."

"I should've been responsible like you, Yeul," Serah moaned, as she buried her face in her hands once more. "Then none of this would've happened!"

The former seeress laid a comforting hand on the other woman's back. "You could not have known this would occur. If you did, I'm sure you would never have taken a drink."

"Think of it this way, at least you got the chance to act like a stupid teenager for once," Noel offered.

Serah stared up at him. "I'm _twenty-four_!"

"Exactly! Think of what you missed out on when you were a teen! You're finally making up for it!"

"Noel, I think you're making matters worse," Yeul shook her head.

"Oh, sorry, I was just trying to look on the bright side of things."

"Great. My life is falling apart, and all you guys can do is make fun of me for it."

"Not at all. We sympathize greatly; it's only that we're both still feeling the aftereffects from the night before that we can't bring ourselves to take your situation with as much seriousness."

"Even better."

"Do you want to lie down for a little bit?" Yeul offered. "I'm sure you'll feel better once your hangover has passed."

Serah shook her head. "No, I need to find Snow. I need to talk to him, explain to him that this was all just one huge mistake."

"Do you know where to look?" Noel asked.

"I'll start with Hope's place. That's who you saw him going with, right?"

Yeul nodded.

"If you don't find him at Hope's, try Lumina next. I mean, she looks so much like you, I can imagine him getting confused while drunk." Noel added.

"Okay," Serah stood up. "Thanks, you two."

"Good luck," Yeul gave her a hug. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to call us."

"I won't."

"And if Caius bothers you, just let us know, we'll take care of him for you," Noel gave her a hug as well.

"Wait! What if I do run into Caius?" Serah's eyes went wide. "What if he…"

"Ignore him, and don't let anything he says get to you. Your first priority is to find Snow. We'll worry about everything else after."

Serah hesitated a moment. "Alright."

She took her leave, as her friends watched from the door.

"She's going in the wrong direction," Yeul pointed out.

"_Serah!_" Noel called.

The pink-haired woman stopped in her tracks as she turned around. Noel motioned with his hands, clearly indicating that Hope's place was the opposite way. Serah seemed to have gotten the message, for she gave them a grateful nod of her head, and changed tracks.

"I'm worried about her," the former seeress muttered, as they watched her disappear down the block.

"Me too, but we can't be of much help right now. We'll check in with her later." Noel shut the door, as they walked back to their bedroom.

"Do you think Caius intentionally slept with her?"

"I don't know," the brunet massaged his temples. "But I can't think right now, my head hurts too much."

The blue-haired woman nodded. "You should rest then."

"Hey, Yeul,"

"Hmm..?"

Noel frowned. "Did I…really hug Snow?"

"You did a lot more than hug Snow," Yeul smiled secretively.

"Yeul…"

"I'm going to make myself some breakfast. I don't think I can fall back asleep."

"Yeul…"

"I'll wake you up after lunch."

"_Yeul_!"

"Sweet dreams, Noel." She patted him on the cheek before walking off.

The brunet's arms shot out, effectively trapping her against the wall. Yeul looked up at him, unfazed, though her lips twitched as though wanting to smile.

"Are you going to tell me what happened, or do I have to find some way to get it out of you?"

* * *

Serah ran down the block, passing by homes and shops, everything blurring together in a rush of sound and color. She had to get to Hope's place. She had to find Snow. She had to fix this mess.

Rushing as she was, she didn't notice the person in front of her until she ran into him. Losing her balance, she shut her eyes, waiting for the impact with the ground. But that never came.

Instead, she felt a pair of hands holding her up steadily. Serah's eyes trailed along the armored chest plate, past the fine strands of purple hair, and into the face of Caius Ballad.

She gave a shriek.

"You!" She jerked out of his grip, taking several steps backwards.

"Child of miracles," the older man nodded his head.

"What are you doing here?!"

"You act so hostile towards me. Were you not pleased with our tryst last night?"

Serah's mouth dropped open in incredulity. How could he speak about it so casually, as though it were a pre-agreed upon meeting?!

"I…you…" she stumbled for words, her anger mounting.

"I have to say, you were a lot better than I expected."

"You _despicable_ son of a—"

"Don't you _dare_ insult my mother," the sharp look Caius sent her made the swearword die in her throat.

"Just…just leave me alone!" Serah clenched her fists. "Because of you, my entire marriage is ruined! If anything happens to me and Snow because of this I'll…I'll come after you with every weapon I have!"

"Such big words from the person who came onto _me_," Caius brought his face close to hers. Serah drew back, feeling her body shaking.

"You're…You're lying! I would never betray Snow!"

"Really? Do you not remember the way things occurred last night?"

Serah looked down, trying to think of what happened, but there wasn't a shred of memory for her to grab onto.

Caius traced a finger along her jawline before lifting her chin up to meet his eyes. She glared at him, her blue irises betraying her fright. He gave a smirk, watching them widen in distress.

"Allow me to refresh your memory," he whispered, before he leaned down and kissed her.

_Slap!_

Caius pulled away, angry and agitated, as Serah breathed heavily.

"Don't you _ever_ touch me again!" She snarled, as she grabbed hold of the necklace around her neck. "See this? This means I'm _married_! The only person who's ever allowed to kiss me is Snow!"

"You show such loyalty to the man who didn't hesitate to leave you and go home with someone else!" Caius spat, as he rubbed his sore cheek.

"Two wrongs don't make a right!" Serah snapped. "Didn't your _mother_ ever teach you that?" She took off sprinting down the block before breaking into a run.

Caius stared after her, a meaningful look on his face, before he gave a smirk and continued onward.

* * *

Serah kept running. She didn't stop, not even to catch her breath. The meeting with Caius completely unhinged her, and she felt if she were to stop, she would just collapse on the spot and burst out crying. She had to find Snow. She _needed_ to find Snow. If nothing else, she longed for the comforting embrace of his arms, to bury her face in his chest and hear him telling her that everything would be okay. That they would figure this out. Together. Like always.

She finally reached the part of town that housed the Academy. Hope's home would be nearby. The thought occurred to her that he might be at work, but she quickly dismissed it. There was no way he would go into the office on a weekend if he got drunk the night before. _Especially_ if he got drunk enough to sleep with Snow. She remembered Noel's comment about the both of them committing suicide, and it brought a smile to her lips, despite the dire situation.

"Okay, I'm going to find Hope, and Snow will be there, for sure. He has to be there," she whispered to herself, as she took off at a run once more, swerving to avoid hitting any other people.

She got to Hope's place, a three-story house that, despite its size, had a quaint look about it, making it seem more inviting rather than imposing.

Body trembling, she walked up the front steps, before knocking on the door. After a moment, she rang the bell.

She heard shuffling inside. "Coming!" A muffled voice called.

Serah waited in anticipation, every nerve in her body jingling. Finally, the door opened, and a tousle-haired Hope appeared in the entrance, a yellow bathrobe haphazardly thrown over his pajamas.

"Serah?" He exclaimed in surprise, his green eyes going wide.

"Hope, is Snow here?"

"He's…"

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

"He's not here. I'm sorry Serah, were you looking for him?"

This was too much for the pink-haired woman to handle. She fell to her knees, feeling the tears well up in her eyes.

"Serah!" Hope bent down, grabbing her by the arms. "Serah! What's wrong!?"

"I…" she clenched her fists, even as a few tears escaped. "I need to find him, Hope! Do you know where he is?"

"I don't. I'm sorry Serah, I don't remember much of what happened last night," Hope apologized. "Here, come inside. There's no reason for you to sit out here in the cold."

Serah allowed him to help her up and gently guide her to one of the couches. She felt like she was on the verge of an emotional breakdown. This was too much for her to handle, and on top of a hangover, no less!

"Do you want a drink?" Hope asked, his face filled with worry. "Have you eaten anything yet?"

"I…I don't…do you know where Lightning is?"

"Lightning? Isn't she at your house?"

Serah shook her head.

"Have you heard from her at all?"

"No, I don't know…Hope…I…" She burst out crying.

"Serah!" Hope gasped, as he bent down before her, gripping her hands. "Serah, what's wrong? Please, tell me! If there's anything I can do to help, I'll do it!"

"Hope…I…" Serah tried to get the words out, but couldn't. "I need you…to..to make a phone call."

* * *

"Noel…"

"Yeah?"

Yeul stared up into his blue eyes, the hands pinning her shoulders not loosening their hold. "How long do you plan on keeping this up for?"

"As long as it takes you to tell me what happened last night."

It had been ten minutes already. Yeul figured the brunet was pretty serious.

"Aren't you tired?"

"Aren't _you_?"

"But I am not as hung over as you are."

"Yeah, but I'm pretty stubborn, as you very well know."

"So we will just stand here until I tell you?"

"Pretty much. Or, you know, you could tell me, and then we can do…other things."

Yeul looked like she was considering it. "You might end up regretting that you asked me."

Noel leaned in closer, his face filling her entire field of vision. "All the more reason you should tell me."

They stared at each other in silence for a few moments. Then, as though to convince her, he brushed his lips against hers, the effect of which was ruined by the shrill ringing of the phone.

Yeul opened her eyes as he pulled away. "We should get that. It might be Serah."

Noel quietly swore. "I knew we should've gotten rid of that thing."

"Do you want to get it, or should I?"

As though admitting defeat, the brunet let out a sigh, releasing his grip on her. "Don't think I've given up yet," he told her, as she went to answer.

Yeul cast him a smile before picking up the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Yeul? Who is this?"

"It's Yeul. Hope?"

Noel came over, as Yeul exchanged a look with the brunet. She placed the phone on speaker.

"Oh, thank goodness! Is Noel there too?"

"Yeah, I'm also here. What's going on Hope?"

"Serah's here, she told me to call you!" The director sounded frantic. "I don't know what happened, she just showed up asking if Snow was here, and when I told her he wasn't, she started crying. She said you guys would be able to fill me in!"

"Wait, Snow's not with you?" Noel asked in surprise.

"Of course not! Why would I be with him?"

"We thought we saw him leaving with you last night." Yeul responded.

"To be honest, I don't really remember much of what happened last night. But this morning when I woke up, I was definitely _not_ with Snow."

The two looked at each other, before Noel answered. "We're coming over Hope. We'll be there in a few minutes. Just watch over Serah, don't let her leave."

"Alright, try to get here as fast as possible. I'll be waiting."

They hung up, as Noel went over to the dresser and pulled out a t-shirt. Yeul in the meantime, began dialing.

"Who are you calling?" The brunet asked, as he started getting dressed.

"A car service. At least they'll be here by the time we're ready to leave."

"Good thinking," Noel nodded.

By the time the cab had arrived, they were already waiting by the door. As the two of them got into the car, Noel thought he saw a flash of purple coming down the block. But a minute later the driver took off to the address Yeul had given him, and he shook his head, thinking it an effect of the hangover.

They pulled up to Hope's house in no time. The Director of the Academy seemed relieved to see them, as he brought them to the living room, where the pink-haired woman appeared to have stopped crying. She was holding a drink of water in her hands, looking miserable.

"Serah!" Noel cried, as he rushed over to her.

Serah looked up, as Noel bent down in front of her. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Yeul sat down beside her, taking in her distraught appearance. "Something happened on the way here," she observed. "Did you run into Caius?"

"What? Caius?" Hope asked, not understanding. "What does Caius have to do with any of this?"

"Serah slept with him last night," Noel answered offhandedly, not taking his eyes off the woman before him.

Hope made the choking sounds of someone who had just been punched in the gut. "What?! Serah..she…what are you two talking about!? Serah would never sleep with someone else!"

Noel and Yeul glanced over at him in a "yeah, we didn't think so either" kind of manner, which further aggravated Hope. He walked over to them, glancing down at the trio.

"I want to know exactly what's going on. What do you two know that I don't?"

Noel looked at Serah, who was still looking miserable. "Do you want to tell him, or should I?"

"You tell him. I can't…" her voice cracked, as she covered her eyes with one hand, the other still holding her drink.

"Well, pretty much, last night when we all got drunk, Serah went home with Caius," Noel began, as he stood up, turning to face Hope. "She didn't realize he wasn't Snow."

"Wha—?" Hope gasped.

"When she woke up this morning, she came straight to us, and told us what happened," the brunet continued. "We told her that we didn't know where Snow was, but we thought we saw him leaving with you, which is why she came here."

"But it seems that on your way here, you ran into Caius, right, Serah?" Yeul asked, as the pink-haired woman nodded her head.

"What did he do? Did he say anything to you?" Noel asked in concern.

"He said…he said that I was the one who came onto him…and then he…he kissed me," Serah's voice trembled as her shoulders shook with suppressed emotion.

Her three friends stared at her in shock.

"This is crazy!" Hope said after a few moments of silence. "Where the hell is Snow in all of this?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Noel shook his head. "The only other place I can think he would be is Lumina's."

"Lumina? But she hates him!"

"Yeah, but she was drunk last night, and she was being a lot friendlier towards him than usual," Noel pointed out.

Hope rubbed his forehead in aggravation. "It's too early in the morning for something like this to be happening," he muttered.

"Hope, if you didn't leave with Snow last night, then who _did_ you go home with?" Yeul asked, a puzzled look on her face.

"Me? I…I don't remember," Hope answered evasively.

Three sets of eyes turned to stare at him in disbelief.

"Okay, look, Serah slept with _Caius_. Whoever you ended up with, it couldn't have been _that_ bad," Noel answered practically, as the pink-haired woman recovered enough to throw her friend a glare.

"Thanks, Noel. Why don't you rub it in some more?"

"All I'm trying to say is, everyone was dead drunk last night."

"And who did _you_ sleep with, Noel?" The director asked pointedly.

"Yeul." The brunet answered smugly.

Hope shook his head as he let out a sigh of annoyance. "Well, that explains why you're not embarrassed. You actually ended up with the person you're involved with."

Serah set her glass down on the coffee table. "Okay, now you're making me curious. I mean, there aren't that many people to choose from. As long as it wasn't Lightning, I can't imagine…" she trailed off as the director turned red. Serah gasped as she stood up. "YOU SLEPT WITH MY SISTER!?" She shrieked.

Noel covered his ears in pain, but no one paid attention to that.

"It wasn't just Lightning!" Hope hurried to clarify, stumbling backwards as Serah advanced towards him with murder in her eyes. "It was _Fang_ and Lightning!"

"Wait, you shagged both Fang _and_ Lightning?" Noel stared in disbelief.

"Yes! I mean no! I mean, it was a threesome, but I didn't really do much, I did more with Vanille than anyone else!"

"Vanille too?!" Serah cried in horror.

"No, it wasn't…I mean, she came onto _me_! Look, it started with Fang and Lightning, and then Vanille made me join in, and then she joined in!"

"So it was a foursome," Yeul pointed out.

"No, it was a threesome, because after a while, Vanille decided to narrate."

"Hope, if you don't tell me where Lightning is right now, I swear I'll—"

"That's just it! I _don't_ know where she is! When I woke up this morning, she and Fang were both gone! It was just me and Vanille!"

Serah thought she was going to be sick. "So my sister is running around with Fang somewhere right now?"

"I think so. I don't know! I just realized when I woke up that they weren't there."

"This is just great!" Serah threw herself back on the couch in exasperation. "My life is falling apart, my husband is MIA, one of the people I considered a _responsible_ person, slept with my _sister_—"

"NOT on purpose!" Hope hurried to supplement. "Honestly, I don't even remember most of it! I wouldn't have believed it either, if Vanille hadn't shown me the video—"

"Wait, there's a video of this?" Noel started.

Serah threw the brunet a dangerous look. "Don't even _think_ about it, Noel."

"I wasn't! I was just making sure I heard right. Vanille videoed the whole thing? What, is she going to show it to everyone?"

"No! I made sure to destroy it after she showed it to me," Hope quickly assured them.

Serah gave him a suspicious look, as though not certain if she should completely believe him.

"You can ask Vanille. Though, she's sleeping right now, so I wouldn't call her just yet."

The pink-haired woman let out a sigh of frustration, as Yeul took advantage of the silence to speak.

"As convoluted as this is all becoming, I think the present issue for the moment, is that Snow is still missing. Whether Lightning is with Fang or not, I'm sure she can take care of herself."

"You're right," Serah agreed. She stood up. "I'm going to head over to Lumina's. Even if Snow isn't there, she might be able to help me."

"Shouldn't you rest first?" Hope asked in concern. "You had a pretty hard day. Have you eaten anything yet?"

"I'll be fine," Serah gave the director a smile. "Besides, I can't eat anything right now, I'm too nervous. I have to find Snow first and talk to him."

Hope looked like he wanted to object, but Noel spoke up before he could say anything.

"Alright, we'll go with you. Make sure that Caius doesn't bother you again."

"No, I need to talk to Snow alone," Serah shook her head. "If I run into Caius again, I won't stay to chat. Besides," she looked down a bit ashamedly. "I've already bothered you two enough as it is."

Noel and Yeul exchanged a glance.

"We're your friends, Serah," the former seeress replied gently. "We want to help."

"Yeah, if we didn't care, we wouldn't have come out here in the first place," Noel added.

"Thanks, you two," The pink-haired woman smiled gratefully. "But this is something I have to do on my own. Besides, I have a feeling Caius won't be bothering me anymore today."

"What makes you say that?" Yeul asked curiously.

"After he tried kissing me, I slapped him pretty hard. I think he might have gotten the message."

While her two friends stared at her, speechless, Hope spoke up.

"Serah, is there anything I can do to help?"

"Yeah. You can find Lightning for me."

"Okay, I'll get to work on that as soon as I can."

"And you better hope she doesn't remember last night," Serah added with a meaningful look, as the director paled.

"I'm—I'm pretty sure she doesn't, and you three better not mention anything to her about it either."

"Your secret is safe with us," Yeul smiled.

"I'd be more worried about Vanille anyway," Noel added. "If she recorded the whole thing, she might have a copy of it saved somewhere."

Hope's eyes went wide. "I didn't think of that! I'm going to head over to her place right now and make sure there's no trace of it."

"Good luck with that. Imagine what she could get out of you with that kind of stuff," Noel joked, but unfortunately Hope didn't see the humor in it, since he could very well imagine Vanille shamelessly blackmailing him for whatever she'd like.

He walked them to the door, the three taking their leave after thanking him for his help. Once outside, Noel asked Serah if she was sure she didn't want them to come with her.

"Yes, I'm sure. I'll be fine. If anything happens, I'll call for help."

"Okay, we'll be waiting to hear from you," Noel replied with a frown, obviously displeased that she was insisting on going alone.

"Serah," Yeul began, and then stopped, as though hesitating.

"What is it?" The pink-haired woman asked.

"Caius…he is a very shrewd man. He is not one to give up easily."

"Which means, be careful. You may think you're okay now, but you probably haven't seen the last of him."

Serah took a moment to absorb this information. Finally she looked up at them determinedly. "Which is why I have to find Snow. Once I'm with him, we'll figure everything out together."

Her two friends nodded, as she took off, hurrying towards Lumina's home on the rougher edge of town. She kept her thoughts positive. She was going to find Snow, and she was going to explain to him how this was all just one huge mistake and all she wanted to do was forget last night ever happened.

As she passed one block after another, the homes started looking more unkempt and neglected. Finally she reached the wall of graffiti that marked the entrance to the slums. Serah slowed her pace to a walk. Lumina's house should be on the first block.

"Well, well, well. Look who showed up finally."

Serah's eyes went wide as she spotted her near doppelganger. Lumina was leaning against the wall of graffiti as though she were waiting for her.

"Lumina!" She cried, as she hurried over. "Have you seen Snow?"

"_Seen_ him? He would be pretty hard to miss, don't you think?"

Serah clenched her fists, feeling her frustrations mounting. She had no time for games. "Where is he?"

"Oh, I don't know. He took off once he realized I wasn't you. What a shame. He didn't even have the decency to say thanks for letting him stay the night."

Serah narrowed her eyes. "Stay the night? What are you talking about? I thought you were drunk."

"Of course I was. That's the only reason I let him come over in the first place. Say, how was your night? You were with Caius, weren't you?"

The pink-haired woman's face paled. "How do you know?"

"Oh please. Just because I was drunk enough to think your husband was cute, doesn't mean I was out of it enough not to see you flirting with the man."

Serah took a few steps back in horror. "F-Flirting? What are you talking about?"

"Don't you remember?" Lumina's smile seemed wicked. "You were the one to make a move on him, and it just went from there."

"Wha—What!? Serah gasped, feeling as though the weight of the world was crushing the air out of her lungs.

Lumina pushed off from the wall and began to walk around her. "Yep, it was pretty adorable, actually. The sad, lonely drunk, with the hyper ball of cotton candy. You two were making jokes about how cute your kids would be with pink and purple hair."

Serah felt she would collapse any minute. Her knees shook. Vaguely she recalled making a joke about complimentary hair colors, and a deep voice laughing in response. Her breath quickened, coming in short pants. Was it true then, what Caius had said earlier? Had she really been the one to come onto him? But…but it couldn't be! If anything, it was just drunk speak! She probably wasn't even aware of what she was saying at the time!

"Well, either way, after experiencing Caius, I don't know why you would go back to _Snow_. He's not even that good you know."

That snapped Serah out of whatever panic she was feeling. She turned to look at Lumina, all her anger directed at the pink-haired vixen in front of her.

"Just what the hell is that supposed to mean!?" She shouted, her fists shaking with suppressed rage. "I _love_ Snow! He's my _husband_! Of course I want to be with him!"

"You're swearing," Lumina observed interestedly. "Is that the hangover talking, or has Noel been rubbing off on you?"

"_Where's Snow_?" Serah hissed, blue eyes narrowed.

"Like I said before, I don't know. He just took off a few hours ago. Maybe you should start looking for him, if you want him so badly, instead of standing around here looking constipated."

Serah threw her one last glare, before taking off. She had only managed to go a few blocks, before the energy left her, and she came to a stop. Tears pricked her eyes, hot and stinging, as they fell one by one. She gave herself a few minutes to cry, before resolutely wiping the tears away.

"Get ahold of yourself, Serah," she muttered to herself. "You'll never get anywhere if you just stand around feeling sorry for yourself."

She looked around, spotting a payphone nearby, and dug in her pocket for some change. She called their house number, hoping that Snow would have gone home, but she knew the likelihood of that was slim. Most probably he would be walking around somewhere berating himself for what had happened. She hung up in disappointment after the machine answered.

"Where would he go…" Serah pondered, as she thought of all the various places _she_ would go to if she were feeling troubled. The only place she could imagine that they both liked was the beach. She didn't know if he would be there, but she had to at least try.

Gathering her strength, she headed towards the seaside.

* * *

"This is great. The one night everyone decides to get drunk, we have more drama on our hands than the time Hope lost Dajh while he was supposed to be watching him. At least then we knew he had to be somewhere inside the Academy building," Noel shook his head as they walked up the block to their house.

"I suppose this should have been a predictable outcome, but we don't often get together to drink, so we couldn't have known, really."

"I wonder who invited Caius anyway," the brunet shook his head again. He pushed open the door to their house, only to freeze upon entering the living room.

"Welcome back. It took you two long enough to get here."

"Speak of the devil, and he appears," Noel glared at the man sitting casually on the couch. "What are you doing here, Caius? How did you get in?"

"You left your front door open. I suppose you were in such a rush to leave, you forgot to lock it."

"Why are you here?" Yeul stepped forward, her face an expressionless mask.

"I've come to give you two fair warning. I know that Serah has already spoken to the both of you. Do not interfere with our relationship."

"That's rich," Noel gave a sarcastic smile. "Are you forgetting that she's already _in_ a relationship? Or did you just ignore the fact that she's married?"

Caius gave an amused chuckle, as he stood up. "I suppose you don't remember much of what happened last night, otherwise, you would not be speaking as you are right now, Noel."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

From beside the brunet, Yeul tensed. Her expression still carefully blank, she addressed the older man. "You have had your say, Caius. You should leave now."

"You haven't told him then?" Caius glanced at the former seeress.

"Haven't told me what?" Noel turned to the blue-haired woman.

"What you did last night," Caius answered, and he gave a triumphant smirk as he saw the look of confusion on the brunet's face. He stood up. "Perhaps the relationship you should be feeling most concerned about…is your own."

Yeul narrowed her eyes as the former guardian made his way to the entrance. He turned to look back at the couple before exiting.

"Heed my warning. Stay away from Serah, and do not involve yourselves in this."

With that, the door banged shut with an ominous sound.

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_To be continued…_

* * *

a/n:

yaay people are reading this and alerting/faving. now maybe if we could get some reviews, that would be seriously awesome.

so please let me know what you thought. reviews always make me update faster.


	3. Chapter 3

"What's he talking about?"

Yeul looked up at the brunet, taking in his tired eyes and overwrought features. "I will tell you," she answered as carefully as she could. "But not now. You should rest first; it's been a long day."

Wrong answer. Noel only seemed to get more agitated. "No, Yeul. I want to talk about this now. Why are you keeping secrets from me? We never do that!"

"I am not keeping secrets. I only think it's better that I tell you after you had a chance to relax, given the events of the entire day."

"So now you don't trust me enough to handle the information!?"

Yeul's eyes widened. "No! Noel, I was going to tell you this morning, before Hope called. The only reason I didn't was because we had to rush over to his place!"

Noel recalled their conversation from earlier. He visibly calmed down. "Oh. I'm sorry Yeul, I just…"

The former seeress let out a sigh of relief. For a minute there, she thought they were going to get into an argument. "It's okay; it's been an eventful morning."

The brunet gave her a soft look. "Do you mind telling me now anyways? I'd rather not wait."

Yeul hesitated, which set the hunter on edge again.

"What? It can't be that bad, can it?"

* * *

"Vanille?" Hope called, as he pushed open the door to the apartment. He had been knocking for the last five minutes, before he remembered the redhead was probably still sleeping off her hangover.

The director entered cautiously, looking around the place littered with last night's…misadventure. Bottles of whipped cream, some chains, a length of rope…Hope was _so_ glad he didn't remember most of it.

"Vanille?" He called again.

He found the redhead snoozing on the couch, one arm hanging off it, the other thrown across her chest.

"Vanille, wake up," he called, shaking her.

"Mrrjklalphm." She opened her green eyes blearily, before realizing who it was. "Huh? Hope! What are you doing here?"

"Sorry for waking you," the director apologized.

"No problem," Vanille let out a yawn, as she stretched her arms. "I thought you left this morning. Come for another round?" She grinned.

Hope paled. "No! I mean—"

"Awww, but wasn't I good?" The redhead pouted.

"That's not the point!" The director blushed furiously. "Look Vanille, you remember that video you took?"

"Sure," she nodded her head. "You asked me to delete it."

"And you deleted it, right?"

"Of course."

"And you don't have another copy of it somewhere, do you?"

Vanille gave him a mischievous smile. "Now why would I do that?"

Hope looked at her, un-amused. "To show it to Fang and Lightning. To blackmail them. And me, for that matter."

"You make me out to be some sort of swindler. Besides, I couldn't possibly blackmail Fang with it. She wouldn't care. Light would probably shrug it off too. Of course, you might care, but I don't see why."

"Did you forget? I'm the director of the academy! I have a reputation to uphold!"

"You were drunk though. It's not like you did it on purpose."

"Exactly my point. It was irresponsible."

"Oh, stop acting like an old man. You should act your age more."

"Vanille, I'm _thirty_." Hope replied exasperatedly.

"You're _seventeen_. Don't exaggerate."

"I _look_ like I'm seventeen because I gave up thirteen years of my life to keep the world from being destroyed. Mentally, I'm thirty."

"And physically you're a teenage boy. Which makes _me_ much older than _you_. And you've got to listen to your elders, isn't that right?"

Hope groaned. There was just no winning with her.

"If it makes you feel betta, I don't have any copies of it," Vanille continued, as she sat up on the couch.

"Thanks, Vanille," Hope gave her a genuine smile. He looked around the apartment. "Do you know where Fang and Lightning are, by any chance?"

"Haven't a clue. I was asleep the whole day. Why? Do you need something from them?"

"Serah's looking for her," Hope answered evasively.

"Serah? Why? Is everything okay?"

"She's…uh…worried about her, that's all."

* * *

Serah hurried down the block. After reaching the beach, all it took was one look around to realize Snow wasn't there. After shaking off the feeling of crushing disappointment, she began to ask if anyone had seen him. Of course, no one had. She decided to go check their house. Maybe he'd gone home after all. He was probably hung over when he woke up, and she hadn't been there the whole day. It was possible that he had been sleeping this entire time.

She pushed away the thoughts that the only reason he'd go home was to get his things. No, Snow would never leave her. He hadn't abandoned her back when she became a l'cie, and he wouldn't abandon her now. They'd gone through too much together, just to give up on the other like that.

In the end, she didn't have to make it all the way to their house. She spotted her husband as he was walking away from a phone booth.

"Snow?" She cried, as she ran towards him.

"Serah?" The blond man turned around in shock.

"Snow!" She threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around him, and pressing her face against his chest. It was him, it was really him!

"Serah…" Snow seemed to have gone stiff, almost unable to move. The pink-haired woman lifted her face up, tears trickling down her cheeks.

"Where were you!? I was looking _everywhere_ for you!"

"I…"

Serah shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I'm just so happy to see you!" She gave him a watery smile, before it slipped away at the sight of his tight expression. "Snow?"

"I…" Snow clenched his hands, as he gritted his teeth. "I'm sorry, Serah. I can't…" he gently unwound her arms from around his waist. "I can't do this. I can't be with you right now."

Serah felt like she'd just been slapped in the face. "Snow? _Snow!_" She shrieked, as she grabbed hold of his arm before he could run away. Around them, people were stopping to stare, but she ignored them. "Don't leave me! Please! Not when I finally found you!"

"I have to. Serah, you don't understand, I…"

"What don't I understand!?" She came around to face him, still holding onto his arm for safekeeping. "Snow, don't you see? I don't care! Anything that happened last night, I don't care about it! I just…I just want to be with you! It doesn't matter to me, who you spent the night with! All that matters is that we're together!"

Snow stared at her, astonishment etched into his features. For a moment he looked hopeful, as he reached out his other hand to caress her hair.

"Serah…" he said softly, before guilt overtook his eyes again, and he pulled away. "I can't do this right now. I'm sorry. I just…can't be with you right now."

He wrenched his arm from her grasp and took off before she could stop him.

"SNOW!" Serah screeched, as the man disappeared around the corner. Slowly, she curled her hand against her chest, unable to comprehend what had just happened. The people who had been watching turned away, continuing on with their day. Serah stood stock-still, numbness overtaking her mind and body.

"What a touching reunion. A pity it had to end in such…heartbreak."

_That voice…_Serah's head snapped up, eyes widening as she turned to see Caius Ballad standing behind her. His tall frame loomed over her in the early afternoon sun. She felt every muscle fiber in her body tauten at his presence.

"The devoted wife, willing to forgive her wayward husband. But the husband cannot seem to forgive himself. Or perhaps he was aware of what you had done, and is unwilling to forgive _you_."

Serah clapped her hands over her ears, turning around. She couldn't listen to him. He was messing with her head! But even as she blocked out the sound, her thoughts were spinning. Could what Caius be saying true? Was that the reason Snow had run off? Because he couldn't stand to look at her for what she had done?

The older man came closer, one arm coming to wrap around her from behind, the other prying her fingers loose from the side of her head. "You can deny it and make excuses all you want," he whispered into the shell of her ear. "And you can blame me for all eternity. The fact of the matter remains that you destroyed your marriage last night when you chose me over him."

Serah let out a primal scream as she tore away from his grasp, reeling. "Get away from me!" She shrieked, before running as fast as she could. Where she was going, she had no idea, but she just kept running as fast as her feet could carry her. She had to get away, put as much distance as possible between her and the man who seemed bent on ruining her life.

She ran and ran, until she couldn't move anymore. When she finally looked up, panting and sweaty, she realized she was at the beach. Her feet had automatically taken her back to her favorite haunt.

Shakily, she walked over to a private spot near some rocks, and all but collapsed on the sandy ground.

* * *

"Okay, you're starting to make me worry. Whatever happened last night, it couldn't have been so bad that you can't even talk about it."

"I'm trying to decide where to start."

"Are you sure you're not stalling?" Noel eyed the former seeress.

"It's more that I'm worried about your reaction."

The brunet let out a sigh of frustration. "Well, this is aggravating me, that's for sure. Whatever embarrassing things I might've done, I'd rather know about them than be kept waiting like this."

"Noel, can we talk about it later? I promise, I will tell you everything."

"No," the hunter shook his head determinedly. "If Caius thinks this is enough to rattle me, than I want to know about it now. There's no reason he should be able to hold anything over our relationship."

Yeul let out a sigh. She felt a warm hand being placed on top of her own. She glanced up, only to see the brunet looking at her.

"Yeul, please?"

She turned her eyes away. "Last night, we played several rounds of truth or dare. I do not remember who suggested the game, but it was received with much enthusiasm."

"Okay," Noel looked puzzled. "I remember that part. So what's wrong?"

"By the third round, you were very drunk. And…you were picked…a lot."

Noel scratched his head. "I still don't see the problem."

"When asked, you picked 'dare' most of the time."

Finally the brunet was starting to see what was making the former seeress so nervous. "Wait, did I…"

"You did every dare."

Noel swallowed uneasily. "Ahaha…when you say every dare, what kind of dares are we talking about?"

"…"

"…"

"…."

"I didn't…"

"Yes, you did."

Noel's eyes went round in horror. "Wait, are you saying I KISSED CAIUS!?"

"No, but you kissed Snow."

"THAT'S EVEN WORST!"

"And Hope."

Noel's mouth dropped open in horror, but barely any sound came out, as the former seeress continued.

"And Lumina. Fang. Vanille. And Chocolina."

"Cho-Chocolina?"

"Sazh's chocobo."

"I _kissed_ a chocobo?!"

Yeul nodded solemnly, as Noel clutched at his hair. He wondered if this was how Serah felt when she woke up this morning in Caius's apartment. He definitely felt like his world was breaking apart.

"On the two occasions that you picked truth, you admitted to being gay and that you enjoyed tea bagging as a hobby."

"What?! But I don't—I didn't—"

"No, I drew the line at that."

Noel stared, horrified. No, more than that, he was _mortified_. He had…the brunet went still. Yeul eyed him carefully.

"MOUTHWASH!" He cried desperately, as he sprang up and ran towards the bathroom. After a moment, the former seeress got up and followed him.

At the sink, Noel was gargling as though his life depended on it. Yeul watched, amused, as he spat, and then took another mouthful. It wasn't long before he'd finished whatever had been left in the bottle. Once that was done, he began brushing his teeth and tongue vigorously.

"Feeling better?" She asked when he was done rinsing.

"No!" The brunet exclaimed, wiping his face with a towel. "I still feel like I have everyone's germs on me! I can't _believe_—how could you let me _kiss_ all those people!?"

"…"

"I mean, really Yeul, I'm never going to be able to look at Hope and Snow again!"

"It was not within my ability to stop you. In any event, you were quite glad to do it at the time."

Noel paused at the inflection in her voice. He turned to look at her. "You're… not mad, are you? I mean, I was drunk! I had no idea what I was doing!"

The former seeress shrugged. "It doesn't make much of a difference now."

"Huh?" Noel stared at her. "C'mon Yeul, I'm not gay, and you know that! And you know I definitely don't do things like tea bagging!"

"Yes, I know." The blue-haired woman looked down for a moment, before turning around and exiting the room.

Noel didn't understand why she was suddenly acting so cold. He ran after her, holding onto her arms as he blocked her way. "Yeul, whoever I kissed, it didn't mean _anything_. I don't even remember doing it!"

"I know."

"So why are you still mad at me?" His blue eyes searched her face frantically.

"I am not mad, Noel," she replied calmly, as she carefully pushed his arms off her. "I just need…some time to myself."

"But…"

She gave him a slight smile, before walking past him and into the kitchen. Noel didn't know what to say, as he felt a distance open up between them, too wide for him to bridge.

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_To be continued…_


	4. Chapter 4

"You're not telling me something."

Hope kept his eyes trained on the phone as he dialed, while Vanille walked around him. "I'm not hiding anything, Vanille. I'm just trying to find Lightning and Fang."

"So you say."

The director hung up in frustration as he got the answering machine again. "I don't understand. It's already two in the afternoon, why wouldn't they be answering their cell phones?"

"You mean these?" The redhead asked, picking up the slim devices that lay innocuously on the counter.

Hope just stared. "Wait, are you saying that I spent the last fifteen minutes trying to call them, when their phones were here all along?"

"Looks like it."

Hope groaned as he went back into the living room and sat down on the couch. "This is just great."

"You know, Hope," Vanille said carefully, as she took a seat beside him. "I may not know what happened after you left here this morning, but even I can tell that you're hiding something. So why don't you tell me? Maybe I can help."

"It's not…anything you can really help with," the director muttered.

"Why don't you try me?"

Hope let out a sigh. "I'm just not sure it's my place to tell you."

"Does it have anything to do with Serah?"

The director looked up at her in surprise. "How did you…"

"Well, you said she was looking for Lightning. An' you've been trying your hardest to find her, so it wasn't that difficult to piece it togetha."

Hope remained silent, as the redhead tapped her chin in thought.

"So something happened with Serah, an' she needs Lightning to help her. Did anything happen last night after we left?"

"A lot happened last night," Hope muttered under his breath.

Vanille made an annoyed sound as she placed her hands on her hips. "Hope Estheim, either you tell me what's going on, or I'll…I'll call everyone up right now an' tell them what you did last night with Lightning an' Fang!"

Hope's eyes went wide. "What? Are you blackmailing me?"

"No, but Serah's my friend, an' I want to help her. If she's in trouble, than I want to know what's going on!"

"That's what blackmailing _is_," Hope pointed out.

Vanille went into the kitchen and picked up the phone, beginning to dial. "Let's start with Sazh." She said, as she walked back into the living room. "I bet _he'll_ have a couple of words ta say to you in regards to sleeping with two women at once."

Hope stared at her in disbelief for a moment, before shaking his head. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you! Just…hang up!"

Vanille promptly ended the call, smiling triumphantly. "See? I knew you'd use your common sense."

The director muttered something under his breath, before motioning for her to sit down. "Basically, last night when we all got drunk, Serah went home with Caius."

"Caius?" The redhead's eyes went wide.

"Yeah. She didn't realize he wasn't Snow, and well, you can imagine what happened afterwards."

Vanille clapped her hands over her mouth in horror. "Oh no!"

Hope nodded grimly.

"But Snow, he isn't…"

"I don't know. Serah's looking for him, but I don't know if she's found him or not. Noel thinks he might've gone home with Lumina."

"Lumina?" Vanille looked thoughtful. "Actually, I _do_ rememba her holding onto Snow before we left."

Hope shook his head, letting out a sigh of frustration. "Why is it that you and Yeul both remember what happened last night, but me, Noel, and Serah can't remember a thing?"

"You don't rememba anything?" The redhead asked in surprise.

"Well, some things I do. But after that second round of truth or dare, my mind is pretty blank. If you hadn't shown me that video, I never would've believed what happened."

"That _is_ pretty strange," she agreed. "I wonder if Fang an' Lightning have the same problem. An' Snow too."

"We'll have to ask them once we find them."

"Right," Vanille nodded. She stood up. "Let's go looking for them."

"But where should we start?"

"Hmm…I suppose we'll go into town first an' ask if anyone's seen them."

"Wait, I have a better idea!" Hope stood up as well. "We'll go to the academy. I can hook us up to the security cameras around town; that way we'll have a better chance of spotting them."

"Great idea, Hope!" Vanille said excitedly. "Let's go!"

"Uh…you might want to get dressed first," the director pointed out, a bit embarrassedly.

"Huh? Oh," the redhead looked down at her pajamas. "Right then." She proceeded to pull off her t-shirt, as Hope's eyes went wide.

"Vanille!" He exclaimed, as he turned around, blushing a furious red.

"Hmm..?" Vanille straightened up. She giggled as she realized what was bothering him. "Please Hope; you've seen me with less than this on."

"That's not the point!" Hope cried out indignantly. "And anyway, I just told you, I don't remember what happened last night!"

"But I _do_. So it's all the same, right?" She winked at him, though he didn't see, since he was facing the other direction.

"Gd, Vanille," Hope groaned, as he waited for her to tell him that he can turn around. "I swear, you and Noel are exactly the same. You're both so casual about this whole situation. Like we did nothing wrong."

"Well, did we do anything wrong?" the redhead asked as she pulled on her skirt. "You can look now."

Hope turned around, relieved to see her fully clothed, though a part of him was slightly disappointed. He promptly ignored that part. "Yes, as a matter of fact. I mean, just look at Snow and Serah. The two of them are married, and they slept with other people!"

"But they were drunk," Vanille replied, as she brushed out her damp hair, before tying it into pigtails. "They didn't know what they were doing, an' like you said. Serah mistook Caius for Snow, an' I'm pretty sure anyone would mistake Lumina for Serah when they're drunk. Even I was gettin' confused last night when I looked at them."

"I don't think you can use being drunk as an excuse for everything," Hope muttered.

Vanille looked at him for a moment, an unreadable expression on her face, before she grabbed up her necklaces that were lying strewn across the coffee table. "Here, would you mind putting these on for me? The latch always gets caught on my hair whenever I do it myself."

"Huh? Oh, sure," He took the beaded strands, and circled the first one around her neck.

"Hope."

"Hm..?"

"Are you upset abou' what happened last night?"

"Upset? I don't remember it, so I can't really get mad about it, can I?"

"Well, you seem to feel like you've done something terrible."

"I did do something terrible. I slept with three women. Even if I can't remember, I know it happened. If my mother knew about this…she would've been so ashamed of me."

There was a heavy pause, as Hope finished the second necklace. He was just starting on the third, when Vanille spoke again.

"I don't think anyone's trying to say it was okay, what happened. But unlike Snow an' Serah, none of us were in a real relationship. It was more like we were having fun an' got carried away with it."

"That doesn't make it right."

"That doesn't actually make it wrong, either. Besides, it's not like it ruined our friendship or anything."

"Because I don't remember it. That's why I don't feel as awkward about it as I should."

"So then…there's nothing to worry about, is there?"

Hope finished the third necklace as Vanille turned around. He frowned as she started pulling on her bangles. "I don't get it. You seem to remember everything that happened, so why aren't you feeling awkward?"

"Because I had a good time. It was wild, an' crazy, an' I would never do it if I were sober, but what's done is done. No one got hurt because of it. We can just forget it like it never happened. Or we can use it as an opportunity to explore something new, something we migh'in't have considered beforehand."

Hope's frown became more puzzled. "Explore something new? What do you mean by that?"

Vanille turned her jade green eyes to meet his own. She leaned in towards him, face filling his entire field of vision. "Well now, how about _you_ give _me_ the answer to that question?"

The director stared at her, as she looked straight back, before the gaze between them became too intense and Vanille turned away.

"I'm going to put on my makeup. Be back in a sec."

Hope continued to gaze after her, even once she disappeared behind the bathroom door.

* * *

Noel opened his eyes, staring up at the ceiling. He was actually feeling a lot better than when he'd gone to sleep. The pounding headache was mostly gone, as was the tension in his body from earlier. He felt…calm. Sedate. Glancing at the clock on the nightstand he saw it was six in the evening. He'd been sleeping for the last five hours.

He wondered what it was that woke him. Then he realized. It was the silence in the house. Despite wanting to go back to sleep, he got up instead, walking into the kitchen before wandering over to the living room. He found Yeul sitting in one of the armchairs, working on a piece of embroidery.

"Hey," he greeted tentatively.

She glanced up. "Slept well?"

"Yeah. I definitely needed that."

She nodded, before going back to her work. Noel opened his mouth as though to say something else, before closing it and letting out a sigh. He turned away, heading back into the kitchen to get himself something to eat. It looked like she was still mad. Even if she said she wasn't, he knew her well enough to know she was upset with him over _something._

After eating a meal, he felt he could no longer take the stiffness between them, and opted instead to go for a walk. So after putting on his shoes, he went back to the living room, hesitating at the entrance.

"I'm going out."

She looked up again. "Okay. When will you be back?"

Noel shrugged. "I don't know. Probably an hour."

Yeul nodded. "Alright then."

"Bye."

"Bye."

He didn't move a muscle, as the former seeress went back to her stitching. Noel watched her, feeling conflicted. On the one hand, he wanted to talk to her, but her coldness was warding him off. Finally he turned away, deciding it was best to give her some space. He let the door fall shut behind him as he left.

* * *

Serah slowly opened her eyes, feeling like a million needles were poking her in the face. She pushed herself up, feeling the ground moving underneath her. She looked around and realized she was still at the beach.

Raising a hand, she swiped down the side of her face with her arm, thousands of tiny grains of sand raining down. It felt like a few of them had also made their way inside her mouth. She wiped them away as best she could, before straightening out her back.

The sun was hanging low in the sky, so it must already be evening, she surmised. It was strange, even though she remembered everything that happened since the morning, she was still feeling calm. Maybe it was being near the ocean that relaxed her, or maybe she was still half-asleep, or it could be her nerves just weren't stretched to the breaking point as they had been a few hours before, but in any case, she could look at the events of the day from an objective point of view and carefully consider her next course of action.

Her first order of business was to find Snow. Even though he'd left her, she knew it was because of the guilt he himself felt for sleeping with Lumina. He just couldn't look at her when he knew he'd been unfaithful.

Next she had to find Lightning. Wherever her sister was, she prayed that Hope had been able to track her down. That reminded her that she needed to call him. After thinking about it, she figured she should call Noel and Yeul as well, just to let them know that she was okay.

Standing up, she brushed the sand off her clothes as best she could, heading towards the nearest payphone. She called Hope's number, but to her disappointment, he didn't answer. It was as she was about to dial Noel's number that she spotted a familiar head of brown walking down the block.

"Noel!" She cried, hanging up the phone and running over to him.

"Serah!" The brunet looked up in surprise. "What are you doing here? Did you find Snow?"

"I…I did."

Noel looked at her in concern. "What happened?"

Quietly, Serah filled him in on what had transpired. Noel's face darkened when she told him about Caius showing up.

"He wasn't joking then," the brunet growled, crossing his arms.

"What do you mean?"

"It was after we left Hope's place; when we got home, Caius was waiting for us there."

"What?!"

"Yeah. He wanted to give us a personal warning not to get involved in all of this."

"That's crazy!"

"Tell me about it."

Serah peered at her friend, whose mood seemed more troubled than usual. "Noel, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine."

She looked around for a moment. "Are you here by yourself? Where's Yeul?"

"At home. I needed some fresh air, so I decided to take a walk."

That didn't sound right. "Did something happen between you two?"

Noel looked at her for a moment, before lowering his eyes. "She's mad about last night."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, apparently when we played truth or dare, I got picked a lot, and I…did a few things she didn't like. Not that I remember doing it, of course." He added under his breath.

Serah looked puzzled. "What things?"

"I…uh…" here Noel started to feel awkward. There was just _no way_ he was going to tell Serah about kissing her husband, especially when she didn't remember it either. "You know what. Forget about it. Let's go do something, get our minds off our problems."

Serah made an annoyed sound in the back of her throat. Her best friend was hiding something. But she knew better than to pressure him when he didn't want to talk about it. "Well, I can't do anything; I have to find Snow first."

"Do you know where to start looking?"

She shook her head. "I was thinking of trying our house, but I don't think he'll be there."

"How about Hope? Did he have any luck with finding Lightning?"

"I just tried his cell phone, but he's not picking up."

"Well, I'm out of ideas," the brunet scratched the side of his head.

They stood around in silence for a few minutes, each trying to come up with some directive. While Serah's thoughts were preoccupied with Snow, Noel's mind kept wandering back to his last exchange with Yeul.

The more he thought about it, the more he didn't understand what she was upset about, and the more it ticked him off that they were having a spat over something so stupid. Okay, so it was wrong that he had kissed all those people, but if she really cared so much, than why didn't she stop him in the first place? Besides, _he_ was the one who should be mad here! He was the one who was thoroughly embarrassed by his actions!

"Ahhhhh…this is crazy," he muttered, shaking his head. "You know what, Serah? I need a drink."

The pink-haired woman stared up at him as though she hadn't heard correctly. "A drink?" She repeated.

"Yeah. There's got to be a bar someplace around here. Let's go find it."

"Wait, Noel!" She grabbed his arm.

"What?" He turned to look at her in surprise.

Serah stared at him as though he'd lost his mind. "Are you forgetting? We got into this whole mess _because_ of alcohol, and now you want to drink more!?"

"Hey, I'm not talking about getting drunk! I just need something to help me unwind. This entire day has been one thing after another. C'mon Serah, even you look like you could use something to get your mind off your problems."

"But…what about finding Snow? And Lightning?"

"We'll still look for them, don't worry. Besides, it's just one or two shots, not a bottle of vodka."

Serah looked like she was torn between going with him or leaving in search of her wayward husband and sister on her own. Noel seemed to sense her struggle.

"I'm not forcing you to come; it's only if you want to."

Serah hesitated. On the one hand, she didn't think the solution to their problems involved more alcohol; on the other hand, she was afraid of going to look for Snow alone, in case she ran into Caius again. Their last encounter was still fresh in her mind, and she wasn't eager to be caught unawares.

"…okay, but only one or two shots, got it?"

"Hey, I'm not looking to get drunk, don't you worry," Noel smiled at her reassuringly, as they took off together down the block.

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_To be continued…_

* * *

a/n:

So...this story will probably reach its climax next chapter, and then it'll be over in another two or three after that.

Please take the time to leave comments telling me if you like this story, or if you hate it, or what you think could've been better/improved. It would mean a lot, and reviews always make me update faster...


	5. Chapter 5

"Okay, I think we're in," Hope clicked a few buttons on the keyboard, as the monitor in front of them split into several different screens, each projecting different images. "Yes, success!"

Vanille looked intently at the screens showcasing different parts of the town. "Is all this what's happening now?"

Hope nodded. "The academy has always had close ties with the military, so I was able to get us into the main security network and tap into the surveillance cameras they have set up all over town."

"So now all we need to do is spot Lightning an' Fang."

"Exactly. Though, that might be easier said than done."

The two of them spent a few minutes gazing intently at the flashing monitors. Thousands of people went about their day all in various parts of the city. The roads were starting to fill with cars, as rush hour was about to begin. Shopping malls were packed, various tourist attractions were being checked out, and through the millions of different faces that flashed by, they weren't able to spot a single familiar head of pink or brown.

"I don' see 'em," Vanille muttered, as she frowned at the screen.

"Me neither." Hope leaned back in his chair. "I mean, we don't have every corner covered, but still."

"I wonder…" The redhead began, as she leaned against the control panel, hand under her chin. "Do you think it's possible they've been sleeping off their hangover this entire time?"

Hope blinked. "Anything's possible. I just can't bring myself to believe it, since they disappeared before either of us woke up."

"Can rewind the videos to this morning? We'll be able to see where they ran off to when they left the apartment."

"The feed on these tapes is live. I can try though. What time do you think they left?"

"Well, I didn't go to sleep until about four, an' you woke me up at seven, so it had to be within those three hours."

Hope nodded. "Right, that would make sense. My watch's alarm went off at six forty-five. So if they'd left any time after that, we would've seen them."

He started typing on his keyboard, the clicking of the keys filling in the silence between them.

"Hey, Hope."

"Hmm..?"

"We should probably look for Snow while we're at it."

The director glanced over at her, nodding approvingly. "Good thinking. I don't know if Serah's found him or not, but we'll keep a sharp eye out."

After a few minutes, the pictures on the monitor began to blur.

"What's happening now?"

"I managed to get the camera closest to your apartment to rewind to eleven hours ago. I can't do every camera in town; otherwise we'll definitely get caught, since we didn't actually get approval for what we're doing."

The images stopped reversing, and they watched intently as it started playing again. Hope clicked a button, and the video began forwarding at twice the normal pace.

"There they are!" Vanille exclaimed, as they saw two familiar women walking arm in arm down the block. Judging by the hint of light in the sky, it appeared to be around five in the morning.

Hope frowned, as he slowed the speed back to regular time. "I think they're talking, but these cameras don't have microphones, so it wouldn't have picked it up anyways."

"It…looks like they're headed back to Lightning's apartment," Vanille observed. "See the direction they're heading in? It's East."

"So you might be right after all," Hope looked intently at the monitor. "Then it would make sense why we haven't heard or seen from them the entire day. Though, they could also be heading downtown, since it's in the same direction." He dug into his pocket, pulling out his cell phone. He handed it to the redhead. "Here."

"What should I do with this?"

"Call Light's apartment. I just want to make sure they're really there, before we head off."

As Vanille dialed, Hope disconnected the link from the single security camera, and hacked back into the numerous ones placed all over Academia. "Now let's see if we can find Snow," he murmured, as he observed the flickering images.

Pressing the phone against her ear, Vanille gasped as someone picked up on the other end. The voice was hoarse and raspy, but the accent could clearly be heard.

"Hello?"

"Fang!" She cried in excitement, as Hope turned to look at her.

"Vanille?"

"Oh thank goodness! We've been trying to find you all day! Are you with Lightning?"

"Yeah, she's here. What's the matta?"

Hope motioned to keep the call short as they would be leaving in a few minutes.

"We're coming ova; we'll explain everything when we get there."

"Who's 'we'? Who're you with?"

"Hope. He's been looking for you too. An' Serah's been looking for Lightning!"

"Why, did somethin' happen?"

Hope once again motioned with his hands for her to wrap it up.

"We'll explain everything when we get there."

"Okay, we'll be waitin'."

With that, she disconnected the call. Vanille turned to the director, charged with energy. "Let's go Hope! We found them!"

"That's great! We'll leave in a few minutes. First, I want to find Snow."

"Oh, alright," she started scanning the monitors with him, keeping her eyes peeled for the blond man. Thousands of people flashed by. "You know, this feels like a game of 'Where's the Cactuar."

Hope gave her a look. "'Where's the Cactuar?" He repeated.

"Yeah, you know, you have a picture filled with millions of different objects an' monsters, an' you have to spot the cactuar among them all. It sounds easy, but it can be quite tricky."

"That sounds like a game I used to play as a kid. Except it was with people, not monsters."

"Oh? What did you guys call your game?"

"Where's Waldo. I kind of hated it, actually, now that I think about it."

Vanille giggled. "I guess now we're playing—There's Snow!"

"There's Snow?" Hope repeated in confusion. "What—"

"No! _There's Snow_! Look!" The redhead pointed to the screen, and the director followed her index finger to where the blond man was walking down a street.

"He looks like he's heading into town!" Hope exclaimed, as he began typing rapidly on his computer. "And he's by himself! Hang on; I'll get a lock on his location."

The camera zoomed in on him, as Hope pulled up a map on the screen beside it, taking down the coordinates.

"He's heading West on Broad Street," the director muttered, as he frowned.

"Broad Street…but that's right next to the slums!" Vanille's eyes widened. "Is he going to Lumina?"

"I have no idea," Hope shook his head. "Broad Street passes through the slums, but there's any number of side blocks he can turn down."

"What should we do?"

"We'll go to Lightning and Fang first. Explain to them the situation. Then we'll look for Snow. I'll bring my laptop along, and since we know his location, it'll be easy to track him from there."

"Alright, let's get going then!"

* * *

Yeul glanced at the clock, before finally putting down her needlework. It was a quarter to eight, and Noel still wasn't back yet. It wasn't that she was worried, but he had told her approximately an hour and he was pretty good at keeping to time.

She let out a sigh as she got up, unable to shake the prickling feeling that something was happening. Maybe she had been too hard on him. It wasn't that she was mad at him for doing the dares, but rather that he had gotten upset at her for not stopping him. Getting him to leave the night before had been difficult enough, there was no way she could have stopped him when he was determined to prove himself while drunk.

Glancing at the clock again, she decided to go out in search of him. He couldn't have gotten too far. Pulling on her boots, she exited their home and made her way towards the town square. That's usually where he liked to go. The only other places she could think of was the boardwalk, which would be closed by now, and the forest, which didn't seem likely given the darkened sky.

But when she reached the fountain in the center of the square, one quick look around told her that he wasn't there. She pushed down the ominous feeling that something big was about to occur, hoping she was wrong. Despite not being a seeress anymore, she often got the feeling her instincts were just as prescient as any of her visions had been.

"Lovely night for a stroll, don't you think?"

The blue haired woman turned around in surprise. "Sazh!"

The older man gave a chuckle as he waved his hand in greeting, the yellow chocobo in his hair flying circles in excitement. "That's me alright. Fancy runnin' into you here, Yeul."

"Where's Dajh?" The former seeress asked, looking around.

"I've got him at home with a babysitter. Kid's got school tomorrow, and I had to do some last minute grocery shoppin' since we were runnin' low on food. How about you? What're you doin' out here by yourself?"

"I'm looking for Noel. Have you seen him?"

"Noel? Why? Kid get himself lost or somethin'?"

"He went out for a walk earlier, and said he would be back by seven. I'm worried about him, that's all."

"Hmm…Well, that ain't good. I'm surprised he can even walk straight, he was dead drunk last night."

Yeul glanced at him curiously. "Do you remember what happened last night, Sazh?"

"Sure I do! Can't be hung over when I've got Dajh to look after. Why do you ask?"

The former seeress shook her head. "I was just wondering, that's all."

Sazh grinned. "Listen, if Noel wants another session with Chocolina, I don' think she'll mind, right girl?"

The yellow chick gave an eager "kweh" in response, as Yeul giggled softly. "I don't think he will be asking for that anytime soon."

Sazh chuckled. "Well, I can help you look for him for a little bit. I've got another half hour before I have ta get back. Maybe Chocolina can track him down." He glanced at the chick. "Think you can do it?"

The bird chirped enthusiastically in response, before zipping through the air. Sazh glanced at the former seeress, gesturing with his hand. "Guess that's our answer."

Yeul nodded, as the two of them took off together down the block.

* * *

"Alright, so let me get this straight," Fang glanced from Hope to Vanille, who were both seated on the couch across from her. "Last night, when we all got drunk, Serah went home with Caius."

"And Caius, he…" Lightning gritted her teeth, arms tightly crossed. She walked back and forth agitatedly. "That son of a..."

"So now he's chasin' after Serah, cause he wants to be with her, an' throughout this whole ordeal, Snow's been _missin'_?"

"We got an approximate idea of his location. We're not sure if he's met Serah or not, but I don't think so, since he would be with her, wouldn't he?"

"Probably not," Lightning shook her head. "Knowing Snow, he'll be doing the whole 'guilt and torture' routine. If he slept with Lumina, than he'll feel like he doesn't deserve to be with Serah, since he cheated on her."

"But it wasn't his fault!" Vanille burst out in his defense. "I mean, we were all drunk, we all did crazy things! He didn't know what he was doing, an' Lumina looks like Serah's twin! Of course he would think it's her."

"Yeah, well," the pink-haired woman looked away, moving restlessly. "Tell that to Snow. He's not the kind of guy to make excuses for his behavior. If he did it, then it's _his_ fault."

"Oh…" Vanille sighed, looking down sadly.

"Then we have to find him and knock some sense into him. Whatever may have happened last night, Serah's willing to forgive him. She doesn't want him to leave. We have to make that clear to him."

Fang stood up, beginning to pace. "You know, somethin's not right here. You said that Serah can't rememba anythin' that happened, right?"

Hope nodded. "Neither could Noel or I. It's like our memories have been wiped blank."

"I can't remember much of last night either," Lightning added, frowning.

"Well, I remember, an' so does Vanille, right?"

The redhead nodded. "Yep. We had a crazy good time. It's too bad Hope made me delete that video, otherwise I could've shown ya what you three did togetha."

"Wait, us _three_?" Lightning asked, eyes going wide.

"Yeah, you an' Hope an'…oops," Vanille cringed as she realized what she'd just let slip.

The silence in the room became _extremely_ awkward, as Lightning turned to look at Hope, who began flushing deeper and deeper shades of red. The former soldier looked nothing short of horrified. Just as the tension was becoming unbearably thick, Fang spoke up.

"Tch. Well it's not like anyone cares."

Hope gasped, as Vanille let out a sigh of relief. Lightning still looked like she was ready for the entire apartment to cave in.

"I knew you wouldn't care, Fang! See, I told you Hope!"

"That—You can't just say it doesn't matter!" The director exclaimed.

"Course I could. It was loads of fun, but I'm _way_ out of your league, kid."

Hope made a frustrated sound, as Lightning finally seemed to recover. At least enough to throw Fang a glare. "So you knew all along what happened when we woke up, and you didn't say a word?"

Fang shrugged. "I assumed you'd rememba'd too. Now that I think about it, it _did_ seem kind of strange you were so chilled out. But I chalked it up to the hangover."

"Wait, I've got a question. Where _did_ you two walk off to at five in the morning?" Vanille asked.

"Went to the karaoke bar," Fang grinned. "You should see Miss Sunshine here sing. Hasn't got a bad voice."

Lightning dropped her head into her hands, letting out a soft groan. "My reputation is destroyed."

"Awww, I wanted to come," Vanille pouted.

"You were already asleep," Fang shook her head. "You an' Hope were both sleepin' so soundly, I felt bad to wake you."

At the sound of his name, the director looked up. His face was still red, but he was glaring angrily at the dark-haired woman. "I don't get it! How are you so casual about this?"

Fang blinked. "Whaddaya mean? Casual abou' what?"

"About what happened last night! I mean, I don't remember it, but I'm still embarrassed! How come you don't even care?"

Fang shrugged. "Just doesn't matter in the big scheme of things, I guess. We already did it, no point in feelin' ashamed when we were drunk an' didn't have a clue what we were doin'."

Hope shook his head in annoyance. "First Noel, then Vanille, and now you. Is this a Gran Pulse thing? You guys just don't take these types of situations seriously?"

"Might be," the dark-haired woman replied unconcernedly. "Or maybe you Cocoon types take things _too_ seriously. That might be the problem here."

"In any case," Lightning stepped in. "We should go find Snow so we can start resolving this whole mess."

"Right," Hope opened his laptop, which was lying on the table. I'll confirm that he's still in the same location. Give me a few minutes."

As he started typing on his computer, Fang turned to the pink-haired woman. "Say Light, did you throw out all the bottles from last night?"

Lightning blinked. "No, they're on the counter in the kitchen. I was going to put them in the recycling bin later."

Fang walked over to the kitchenette, as Lightning followed her curiously. After a moment, Vanille got up and went after them as well.

"What are you doing?" Lightning asked, as she watched Fang pick up each bottle and examine it carefully.

"Unless I'm wrong, I think one of the bottles last night was spiked."

Lightning's eyes widened. "That would make sense, why so many of us can't remember what happened," she concurred.

"But who woulda done something like that?" Vanille questioned.

"Caius." Fang answered promptly, but Lightning shook her head.

"No. The guy might have a few screws loose, but I don't think he would do something like this."

"Then who…"

"It would have to be someone who wouldn't care about the consequences. Someone who was just out to have a good time, at the expense of other people..."

Fang furrowed her brow in thought. "Well, the only person I can think who fits that description is…"

* * *

"Why did you do it?"

The pink-haired vixen looked up, as she observed the blond man in front of her. "Did what?" She asked innocently.

"You spiked one of the bottles last night," Snow tightened his fists. "Why did you do it?"

Lumina gave a smirk as she tilted her head to the side coyly. "Are you accusing _me_ of doing something so…_devious_?"

"I know it was you. No one else who was there would do a thing like that. You're the only one who had an agenda."

"Is that so? And what proof do you have? Nothing you say can convince _anyone_ that you're right."

"It's the only explanation," Snow looked down for a moment, a frown on his lips. "I've been drunk before, so I know the feeling. I've never had a problem remembering what I did the night before, even after drinking enough to throw up. This is the first time I couldn't remember what happened before I woke up in your bed."

"Are you sure you're not just looking for someone to blame? It's bad if you can't take responsibility for your own actions, you know."

Snow glared at her. "I would _never_ hurt Serah like that, or cheat on her, ever! Especially not now that we're married! Admit it; you did something to one of the bottles last night." He leaned in close to her, blue eyes narrowed into chips of ice. "And now I want to know _why_."

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_To be continued…_

* * *

a/n:

uggghh Lumina you little—!

Early update is early. See? Reviews make me post chapters _much_ faster. -hinthint-

btw, did anyone catch the latest LR trailer? Like, omg, I am spazzing out like no tomorrow! I can't get over the fact that Light is getting Aerith's outfit! Not that I care for Aerith's dress or anything, but that scene they showed in the demo of her getting shot by Caius made me laugh SO HARD bec. they totally did that to troll the FFVII fans XDD! And I'm sincerely hoping that this also means we might get Tifa's AC outfit for Light too!_  
_

Oh, and I still can't get over how they showed the _entire_ opening cutscene! It was absolutely amazing! I can't get over the graphics! If you didn't catch it, there's a LQ version on YouTube that you can watch ^^

Anyway, I'd love to hear what you guys thought of the trailer, and this chapter, so leave reviews and tell me what you think ^^


	6. Chapter 6

Lumina took a few steps backwards, putting some distance between her and the blond man. For a few moments they stared at each other, before she gave a smirk.

"Now aren't you a regular sleuth. Alright, I'll admit it. I spiked one of the bottles last night."

Snow tightened his fists. "_Why_?"

"Isn't it _obvious_?" Lumina began walking around him. "Things were getting _boring_ around here. Everyone was moving on with their lives, all happy and peaceful. _Especially_ you and Serah. You two were so in love, it was _disgusting_. So I decided to add some excitement."

Snow bared his teeth, feeling like he wanted nothing more than to sink them into her and rip her apart limb from limb. "You decided to wreck my marriage for _fun_?"

The pink-haired vixen turned around to face him. "Now that wasn't how I'd planned it. I wanted entertainment; destroying your marriage was just an added bonus." She smiled sadistically, as she looked back at the larger man. "Even _I_ couldn't predict what would happen when I spiked one of the bottles last night. But all's well that ends well, _right_?"

Snow had to hold himself back from wringing the girl's neck. His hands twitched spasmodically, as though longing to release all his rage on the very cause of his ire.

Lumina watched interestedly, as Snow struggled to keep himself under control. The day was turning out to be more amusing than the previous night had been.

"You're so quiet all of a sudden." She jibed. "What's the matter, cat got your tongue?"

Snow turned around before he lost himself to his temper. "You know, you're a sick little sociopath." He spat, before walking away.

"Say hi to Serah for me! Let me know how things worked out between her and Caius!" She called tauntingly after.

* * *

"So you're saying…_Lumina_ spiked one of the bottles last night?" Vanille looked up at the former soldier, who nodded.

"Makes sense, now tha' I think abou' it. She always was the little misfit." Fang agreed.

As they mulled over this piece of information, Hope called them from the living room.

"He's changed locations! It looks like he's heading towards the harbor!"

"Well what're we standin' around here for?" Fang exclaimed, as they hurried over to the director. "Let's go catch us a missin' husband!"

"Right!" Vanille echoed, glad to finally be taking action.

Hope nodded in agreement. "We'll head towards his last coordinates. Hopefully he won't have gotten too far."

The four of them left the apartment and piled into Hope's car, after he pointed out that it would be faster than walking. Vanille called shotgun, filling the director in on what they'd just figured out, as Fang and Lightning took the back passenger seats. Hope plugged his phone into its charger before driving them to where he'd last seen Snow, or at least, he tried to. Forgetting all about rush hour, they found themselves crawling at a snail's pace in the bumper to bumper traffic.

Fang was fast losing her patience. "At this rate, Snow will be gone by the time we get outta this jam!"

"There's not much I can do about the traffic," Hope replied as calmly as he could, though Fang's clear irritation was putting him on edge.

Another three minutes of waiting for the light to change and missing it, the dark-haired woman had had enough. "That's it. Pull ova to the side, we're ge'in' out."

"What?"

"We'll cover a lot more ground by walkin'. At the pace we're goin' it'll be nightfall by the time we make it ta where Snow is!"

"She's right, Hope," Lightning spoke up. "We'll never make it through this traffic."

Though not happy about it, the director agreed with their logic and parked his car on the side. He took another minute to recheck Snow's location, as Fang, Lightning, and Vanille got out.

"He's headed North on Thirteenth Avenue."

Lightning glanced up at the street they were on. "He's about a mile away."

"Better get runnin' then," Fang replied, cracking her knuckles.

"Wait a second; doesn't Merkel Street cross over Thirteenth Avenue?" Vanille inquired. Hope checked the map, confirming her statement.

"It does. And we're on," he glanced up quickly, before looking back at his map. "Harding Avenue. Which is parallel to Merkel…" he trailed off, realizing what the redhead was saying.

"So if we split up, we can circle around an' catch him from both ends!" Vanille finished excitedly.

"Alright then! Me an' Vanille will cut him off at the front, you two bring up the rear!" Fang ordered, as the two Oerban women took off together, leaving Hope and Lightning on their own.

That was when Hope made a very startling discovery. As he turned to look at his companion, the air between them thickening rapidly, he realized the reason he didn't feel awkward about last night around Vanille was because the latter played it off so insouciantly. But left alone with Lightning and the wrongness of the situation seemed to magnify tenfold.

"Hope," Lightning began, as the awkwardness became thick enough to cut.

"Light, about last night—"

She interrupted him. "Nothing happened."

Hope stared at her, not understanding. Lightning repeated her words with meaningful intent.

"_Nothing_. _Happened_."

The director looked at her for a moment, before giving a nod of his head, a slight smile spreading across his lips. "Right."

"And we are _never_ going to mention this ever again."

"Mention what?"

The pink haired woman gave him an approving smile. "Good. Now let's go catch Snow."

Hope took a moment to put his laptop back in the car and lock it, before following his mentor down the block, keeping pace with her. They sprinted past scores of people as they hurried after their target, finally catching up to him after twenty minutes of non-stop running.

Snow was unaware of anything around him, mind too preoccupied with his dismal situation. He stopped for a moment to look out at the harbor, the horizon a brilliant amalgamation of gold and pink. Suddenly he heard a shout from behind.

"There he is!"

He had a fleeting glimpse of dark skin and something blue before he was shoved forward, hands being held hostage behind his back in vice grip.

"Who the hell—"

"Heard you've been givin' everyone problems this whole mornin'," his assailant cut him off.

"Fang?!" Snow gasped, as he tried to turn around, but her hold on his arms was too strong and she wouldn't allow him to move.

"Uh-uh. You've gotta get your comeuppance first," she replied, as he gritted his teeth. "Hey Lightnin'! We've got him ova here!"

The blond turned to see his sister-in-law walking forward, followed by Hope. He felt a sense of horror and dread rise up within, as he realized she knew what had happened. The pink-haired woman stopped in front of him, expression grim, as they both stared into each other's eyes.

"Go on, Light. Give what's comin' to 'em."

The former soldier raised a hand, as Snow's eyes went wide, before he hung his head low, accepting his punishment.

Lightning eyed his broken posture, letting out a resigned sigh as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "It's okay." She said softly. "It wasn't your fault."

"Someone spiked one of the bottles last night. We think it was Lumina," Hope spoke up from behind the pink-haired woman. "We don't have any proof, but it's—"

"I know," Snow cut him off quietly.

There was a disconcerting pause.

"You know?" Hope repeated, not understanding. "What do you mean—"

"I know it was Lumina!" Snow finally looked up at them, his face contorted in pain. "She told me herself. I asked her."

There was another pause as they all stared at him.

"Did she tell ya why she did it?" Fang said at last, releasing her grip on his arms.

"Her own sick amusement. She was bored, and wanted to see what would happen if she spiked one of the bottles."

"We figured as much," Lightning muttered, after a few moments of silence. She crossed her arms, unsure of what to do next.

"Well, in tha' case, maybe we should go find Serah," Vanille suggested finally, breaking the silence. "She's been lookin' for you, Snow."

"Yeah, she was really worried about you," Hope added. "She broke down crying this morning when I told her I didn't know where you were. She went out to search for you."

Snow looked down, clenching his fists. Lightning glanced at her brother-in-law, noting his expression.

"She still wants to be with you, from what I've been hearing. It's not your fault what happened last night. You were both victims in someone else's twisted scheme. It's better to just forget about it, and move on with your lives."

"That's what she wants. She said it herself. She wants to be with you, and she forgives you whole-heartedly," Hope added.

"You still want to be with her?" Fang asked, crossing her arms at the blond man's silence.

"Of course I want to be with her!" Snow exclaimed, turning to glare at the dark-haired woman.

"Well, then there's no problem, is there?" Fang responded coolly.

"It might be hard at first, but you'll both get past this. Remember, you swore to me you'll do everything you can to make her happy. Even if happy means she wants to be with you," Lightning gave a slight smirk, as Snow looked up at her.

Slowly, the smile spread across his lips, as he raised a fist in agreement. "Yeah. You're right. Let's go find her."

"But where should we start?" Vanille asked. "She could be anywhere."

"The beach," Snow responded without hesitation. "That's where she always goes when she's feeling troubled."

"Alright then! Let's go!" Vanille exclaimed, glad the heavy mood was finally dissipating. She ran forward, grabbing onto Hope's arm and pulling him along. "We'll meet you at the car. C'mon Hope!"

"Wha—Hey! Vanille!" The director's protests were lost as he stumbled after the enthused redhead. The other three chuckled, shaking their heads before following after.

"Vanille! Slow down, I can't keep up!" Hope cried, as she finally let go of his arm. He stumbled a bit before catching his balance. "Thanks," he straightened out his clothes, before looking at her. "What was that about?"

"Everyone's acting like it's the end of the world!" She vented in frustration. "And it shouldn't have ta be tha' way. Snow knows it's not his fault, but he still feels guilty abou' it!"

"Well, cheating on one's spouse is a very serious thing," Hope answered, as they resumed walking at a normal pace. "In some cultures, it was punishable by death."

"Oh goody. Maybe he'd like to stand in front of the firing squad then."

Hope chuckled, before looking over at her and smiling fondly. "You just want everything to work out for them, don't you?"

Vanille glanced at him before looking away, crossing her arms. "They've been through enough already, doncha think?"

The director nodded, as they continued walking, chatting lightly. They reached the car 15 minutes later, and Hope unlocked it, reaching inside to take out his laptop. He saw a flash of light, and realized he'd left his cell phone inside.

"Looks like I have a missed call," he furrowed his brow as he checked the log. "But I don't recognize the number."

"Maybe it's from the Academy?" Vanille suggested, as they waited for the other three to catch up.

Hope sat down on the edge of the seat and opened his laptop. "Can't be. I have all the possible numbers to the Academy in my contacts. Hang on; let me see if I can trace it."

It was silent for a few moments as the redhead watched him, leaning against the side of the car. Finally Hope let out a soft gasp.

"What is it?"

"It's from a payphone downtown."

Vanille followed his train of thought. "Wait, you think that might've been—"

"You two were in a hurry," Fang called, as they finally caught up.

Hope stood, as he looked at the trio that had just arrived. "I think I know where Serah is."

* * *

Yeul and Sazh stood outside a bar as Chocolina pointed to it, chirping.

"I guess this is where Noel is," Sazh stroked his beard.

The former seeress furrowed her brow. "But why would Noel go drinking?"

Sazh lifted his shoulders in a shrug, palms upturned. "Beats me. Whaddaya say we go in and ask 'im?"

Yeul nodded. The older man reached forward and pulled the door open, gesturing for her to enter.

The bar was packed with people, making the air hot and stuffy inside. Music blared somewhere in the background, but it could barely be heard above the din. As they looked around, Yeul couldn't seem to spot the brunet anywhere.

Sazh let out a sigh. "Hey girl, think you can find Noel for us in here?" He asked his faithful pet. Chocolina flew above his head, searching around, but came back empty handed. "Well, that's just great."

"I'll check on that side of the room," Yeul pointed to the right as she turned to the pilot. "Can you check the other?"

"Sure, but I mean, isn't it dangerous for you to go off on your own in here? I don' want Noel comin' after me cause somethin' happened to you."

Yeul paused, considering his words. Before she could answer though, Chocolina began flying circles over the former seeress's head, kwehing all the while.

"You're gonna go with her?" Sazh scratched his head at the bird. "But what could you possibly do?"

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, as the chocobo began pecking at him incessantly.

"Ouch! Okay! Okay! Ow! I'm sorry! I get it! Just get away from me! Ow!"

Yeul chuckled, trying to hide her smile. "I should be fine with her as my guard."

"Yeah yeah, alright. Just get goin'. I have ta be back soon for the babysitter."

The former seeress nodded as she walked off, the yellow chick flying in the air behind her. She passed by dozens of people, many of whom ignored her, some who leered at her, and others too engrossed in conversation or drink to notice she was there. It was as she rounded a corner that she came upon a sight. The very person she was looking for was being backed into a corner by another man.

"For the last time, I'm _not_ gay!"

"You don't have to be so shy. We could really have something beautiful together."

"I'm already taken!"

"Whoever it is, they wouldn't be able to make you as happy as me," the guy responded determinedly, leaning in closer as Noel recoiled.

"No, she makes me very happy. In fact, I can't imagine my life without her."

"Oh c'mon, a guy like you can't possibly be satisfied with just a _girl_," the man grinned, and Noel, though he'd only had two shots, was quite ready to vomit everything he'd ever digested from the entire weekend.

He moved to go find Serah and leave, when the man, deciding to be more forceful, pushed him against the wall. Noel could _just _see irony laughing in his face, as the guy held him against his will.

"Going somewhere?"

Noel grit his teeth. The guy was obviously drunk, and he didn't want to cause a scene if he could help it, but he had had just about as much as he could stand from this person.

"Look, if you don't let me go, I'm going to have to hurt you."

"Oooh, that sounds kinky. Will you hurt me _bad_?"

Noel shuddered, thoroughly revolted. He grabbed the man's shoulders, ready to throw him off, when he sensed an approaching presence. He turned to look, blue eyes going wide as he let out a gasp.

"Yeul!"

The former seeress nodded.

"What are you doing here?! How did you get here?!"

"You did not come home, so I began to worry. I went out to search for you, and met Sazh on the way. He helped me find you," she tilted her head to the side. "Enjoying yourself?"

"Enjoying? What?" Noel realized he still had his hands on the other person, and he shoved him away with a start. "No! Yeul, this isn't what it looks like!"

"Actually, we _were_ enjoying ourselves," the man spoke up in annoyance, having regained his balance. "Why don't you tell your little sister to go run along?"

"Sister? That's my wife!" Noel spat, as he moved to stand beside the blue-haired woman.

The man stared, dumbfounded. "_Wife_? You're _married_?!" He narrowed his eyes. "No way! Prove it!"

"It's the truth," Yeul replied. "We got married four months ago."

"I don't believe you."

"And I don't give a flip," Noel rejoined neatly, as he grabbed Yeul's wrist and took off. "Come on, let's get out of here."

He pulled her along, until they were a good distance away from where she'd found him, and that was when he finally let her go. Before she could say anything, the brunet wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

"I'm so glad you showed up," he said quietly, relief in his voice.

Yeul wasn't sure what to say. The hug was unexpected, given that they hadn't yet resolved their conflict from earlier. "It would appear that I have much competition to contend with," she said at last, tone arch, as she allowed herself to sink into his warmth.

Noel pulled back, giving her a deadpan expression. "No, you don't."

She chuckled, as Chocolina flew in between them, chirping away, before she rubbed herself against Noel's cheek.

"Hey, that tickles," the brunet laughed, pushing her away.

"She was the one who found you here," Yeul smiled. She tilted her head to the side. "Why did you go to a bar?"

"Well, I ran into Serah while I was walking and—" the brunet broke off as he let out a sharp gasp. "Serah!" He started looking around, as the former seeress stared at him in confusion.

"Noel, what are you—"

"I ran into Serah and she came with me! I'll explain later, we have to find her! She might be in trouble!"

Yeul nodded as the two of them began searching around for their missing friend.

* * *

Serah looked up at the former guardian, as he steadily forced her deeper into the alley they were in. All she did was go out for some fresh air. There were so many people in the bar, she was starting to feel claustrophobic, and she couldn't find Noel anywhere. She didn't think anything would happen from walking down one block by herself, but apparently that was a mistake.

"What do you want from me?" She hissed through gritted teeth.

"I thought I made that clear to you this morning," Caius answered, as he stepped forward. "I want to be with you."

Serah's back hit the wall, and she realized she had nowhere to run. She glared at the former guardian, clenching her fists. "And I thought I made it clear to _you_ this morning, that I'm not interested! Nothing you say will change my mind about Snow! I love him, and he loves me, and that's the way it'll always stay between us!"

"How inspiring," Caius sneered, as he stopped a few inches before her. Serah stared at him defiantly, her blue eyes hard and cold. "It is clear that the strength of your love did not extend to last night. Had it been as resilient as you claim, the two of you would not have slept with other people."

The comment stung, cutting right through her. Serah looked down, wondering if what he was saying could be true. It was a fear that had haunted her since their first encounter that morning, while she'd been on her way to Hope's. She swallowed as she looked back up, nails digging into the palms of her hands. She shook her head.

"No, I'm not going to listen to you! I was drunk last night, and so was Snow! If either of us had any idea what we were doing, we would never have gone home with other people! If anything, you're the one to blame here! At least I can be forgiven because I was intoxicated, but what's your excuse, Caius? How could you sleep with me when you knew good and well that I was married!?"

Caius narrowed his eyes, bringing his face closer to hers. Serah drew back at the intense look in his light blue orbs. "I already explained myself this morning. You were the one to come onto _me_. I tried to stop you, but you persisted. I shunned your affections, but you did not give up. And so I gave in to your desires, and allowed you to be with me for the night. I had realized at that point what a futility it was to tell you no."

Serah felt like she'd been slapped in the face. "No…I…" she clenched her jaw, mouth going dry as she looked down. "I would never…" she shook her head, voice trailing off, as she finally glanced back up at him. "Then why…" She asked tremulously. "Why are you still chasing after me? Whatever happened last night, I don't remember it, and I don't want to. I already made my choice to stay with Snow. Everything else is meaningless to me."

"But it is not meaningless to _me_," Caius answered lowly. He lifted her chin so she was forced to look him in the eye. "Perhaps you do not recall what we shared, but I _do_. And to me, it held an enormous amount of significance."

"Wha..what are you saying…"

"I have spent countless centuries alone, with nothing but the fleeting life of one seeress after another for company. Pain was my only solace, and I wished for nothing but death to free me from my torment."

Serah tried to swallow, but her throat felt closed off, as Caius continued.

"Can you imagine what that means, watching someone you care about dying over and over again? But at last, Yeul was finally freed from her eternal curse, and I was freed from my immortality. There was nothing left to tie me to this world; Yeul was living the life she deserved at long last. And I…I was left to ruminate over my long existence. Until you came along."

"I…I don't understand…"

"You reminded me of what happiness is," Caius's eyes softened slightly, as he removed his hand from her chin, choosing instead to run a finger through her bangs. Serah let out a shuddering breath, the action causing goosebumps to breakout over her arms and legs. "I have been by myself for so long, that I forgot the simple pleasure of being with another person. The intimacy and closeness that we shared is something that I will not soon forget. Even if you cannot recall, it still happened; and somewhere inside of you, I am sure there is a place that remembers it as well. Perhaps…all you need is a reminder."

Serah couldn't breathe, the intensity of the moment squeezing the air from her lungs. She felt powerless to do anything, as Caius leaned in and kissed her. Somewhere deep down inside, she felt a tug, an almost painful pull that seemed to erase any thoughts in her mind, as she closed her eyes, giving in to the emotion charging the air between them.

The former guardian pulled away, noting the expression on her face, as Serah slowly opened her eyes. He traced a finger down her cheek, caressing the skin softly, as she finally remembered to take in air.

"Do you understand now?" He asked throatily.

"Understand…" Serah repeated slowly, before shaking her head, snapping herself out of whatever daze she was in. She pushed Caius away from her, glaring at the older man. "No! I don't care what you say or do, nothing…nothing will ever make me leave Snow! I…I love him, and he loves me! Find someone else to be happy with, I'm not interested!"

"You cannot deny what we shared, Serah! I know you felt it as well!"

"I…" Serah curled a hand against her chest, her mind going back to the pull she'd felt when he'd kissed her. "That…That doesn't matter! We don't have _anything_ together, Caius! I've already made my choice, and I'm not leaving Snow! Not for you, not for anyone!"

"You heard the woman, leave her alone."

Both turned to see Sazh with his guns out, pointed straight at the former guardian.

"Sazh!" Serah cried in a mixture of shock and relief.

"Hey Serah," Sazh greeted, tipping his head in her direction. "It looked like you were havin' some trouble over here. Thought I'd drop by and see if everythin' was okay."

"Never took you as the type to go after married women, Caius," Noel appeared beside the pilot, Yeul and Chocolina behind him. "Guess you learn something new every day."

Caius narrowed his eyes at the pair. "I warned you two to stay out of this."

"You really thought I'd listen to that? I thought you knew me better than that by now."

"Step away from the girl, an' no one gets hurt," Sazh said slowly, leveling his gun. "I would really hate for this ta turn ugly."

"You do not have the heart of chaos any longer, Caius. Please listen to him."

The former guardian gave a derisive smirk. "Life and death are trifle things, Yeul. You should know that well by now."

Sazh's fingers tensed over the trigger. He didn't want to shoot, but he would if it came down to it. The two men eyed one another, sizing each other up, the moments passing in excruciating slowness.

Before either one could make a move, they heard the sound of pounding footsteps, followed by a shout.

"We found 'em! They're ova here!"

"And Caius is with them," Lightning glared at the older man, taking out her gunblade and pointing it straight at his heart. Fang followed suit with her lance.

"Lightning! Fang!" Serah cried.

"Get away from the girl, an' no one gets hurt," the dark-haired woman growled threateningly.

"You're outnumbered, three to one," Lightning added in a measured voice.

"Make that four to one," Snow arrived on the scene, followed closely by Hope and Vanille.

"_Snow_!"

"Serah!"

"It's in your best interest to listen. I know you don' much value your life, but it would be a pity to waste it onna fight you're never gonna win," Sazh said, staring at the former guardian.

Caius glanced around at the group, knowing he was overpowered. He gave a smirk, closing his eyes. "Very well. I can see this is not the proper time. I shall take my leave quietly."

A few tense moments passed, before Lightning spoke. "What are you waiting for? Take your leave, and get out of here."

"I wish to say goodbye first," the former guardian responded, as he turned to look at the pink-haired woman behind him.

Snow stepped forward, ready to let his fist give Caius a proper sendoff. Fang held out her arm, stopping him in his tracks, and shaking her head, indicating that he should wait.

Serah's eyes widened as Caius leaned in, but he did not kiss her as she thought he would. Instead he brought his lips close to her ear, his hot breath ghosting over the skin as he whispered inside it.

"When you are ready, I will be waiting. Do not take too long in deciding where your happiness lies."

Serah let out the breath she'd been holding as he moved away, his words sending chills running up and down her spine.

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_To be continued…_

* * *

a/n:

omg, I'm SO sorry about how late this chapter is! I really did not mean to make you guys wait an entire month before I updated, but rl got in the way and I didn't have as much free time to work on this. But thank you to the people who _did_ review, and to the anons who messaged me on tumblr asking me for updates, you guys are so sweet ^^

I was originally going to split this chapter into two, but I decided to keep it long bec. I felt bad for the long wait. Only one more chapter to go though! So...uh, how about we make a deal. If I get like, 10 reviews, I'll post the next chapter in less than a week from today. Cause like, I know there are more than 20 of you guys reading this story and it makes me depressed when I see how many hits the last chapter got, and how only two people bothered to leave a review.

I mean, nothing will happen if you don't, but reviews make my day and give me the motivation to keep working on this story. So...thoughts/comments/opinions on this chapter/story would be greatly appreciated and loved.


	7. Chapter 7 (epic conclusion!)

Snow ran over to Serah, as Caius walked away, shoving past Sazh, and disappearing into the night.

"Serah…?" Snow began cautiously, as he reached out a hand towards the pink-haired woman. She was staring at the ground, almost as though in shock. After a moment she looked up, offering her husband a shaky smile.

"Snow…"

"Serah!" He cried, as he enveloped her in his arms.

"Snow!" She exclaimed, equally emotional, as she buried her face in his chest. She wrapped her arms around his waist, as the two of them held each other, finally together.

"Serah…" Lightning approached her younger sister, as the couple broke apart and she embraced her. "I'm sorry. I wasn't there for you when you needed me."

"It's okay. You didn't know. Besides, it was my fault for everything that happened last night."

"Actually, it wasn't," Hope spoke up, taking a few steps towards the trio. "It was Lumina's."

"Lumina?" Serah looked confused, as she glanced from Hope, to her sister, and then to her husband.

"What do you mean it was Lumina's fault?" Noel asked, staring at the director.

"She spiked one of the bottles last night. That's why so many of us can't remember what happened. Consequently, any actions we did afterwards were under the influence of whichever drug she put in."

"Are you sure?" Serah looked cautiously from Hope to Snow.

The blond nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. I asked her myself. She admitted to it."

"But…why would she do that?" Noel asked, not understanding.

"Entertainment purposes, from what I gather," Hope responded with a shrug.

There was a pause, as the newly informed absorbed this piece of information.

"So…I'm not really sure what's goin' on, but it seems like somethin' happened las' night after we all went home. Anyone care to explain?" Sazh asked, finally breaking the silence, as he looked around at the group.

Hope glanced towards Serah, who in turn looked at him and nodded her head. Slightly annoyed that he was the one left with the job of explaining everything to everyone, the director nevertheless filled the pilot in on what had been happening since that morning.

Sazh let out a sigh, shaking his head once Hope was done. "That's pretty messed up, lemme tell you," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. "You know, when I was younger, and we wanted some fun, we played board games or some sports; not slip drugs into people's drinks! Makes me wonder…what do they even teach kids in school these days."

"Hey, you were drinking right along with the rest us last night too," Vanille turned to look at him, poking him in the side. "Ya can't put all the blame on us!"

"Well _someone_ had to watch over you kids and make sure you weren't gettin' yourselves inta trouble!" Sazh defended. "I was just bein' a responsible adult!"

"Is that so?" Fang scoffed, crossing her arms. "I clearly rememba you drinkin' down a good bottle or two last night! Not much for responsible, eh?"

"Well—I—"

"Yeah, an it's not like you stopped any of us from doing our crazy stunts!" Vanille added, placing her hands on her hips. "You were rooting right along with everyone else when Noel kissed Snow and they were feelin' each other up!"

All of a sudden the air became very thick with tension, as everyone turned to look at either the brunet or the blond man standing next to his wife. The silence was so loud; you could have heard a pin drop. In the distance, a lone car raced by, breaking the quiet, but that, too, quickly faded away.

"I did WHAT?!" Snow shouted, as he swung around to look at the redhead who was positively _cringing_.

"Oh, well, it's not tha' important," she began, flapping her hands in front of her desperately. "I mean, it was just a dare an' you two did it—"

"Stop apologizin', it's his fault for doin' it," Fang put her arm around the younger woman. She pointed her chin at Snow, an amused grin on her face. "You an' lova boy over here were busy havin' a good time with each other last night. Kissed an' cuddled an' all that jazz."

"Wait a second, you said the only thing we did was kiss!" Noel turned to look at his wife accusingly.

"I already told you about the hugging," Yeul responded warily. "In the morning, remember? I didn't think it was necessary to mention it again."

"Wait, you _knew_ about this?" Snow stared at the brunet in horror.

"I was _trying_ to forget!" Noel snapped. "Believe me, the last thing I want is to remember doing anything like that with _you_!

"So you do remember what happened last night then?" Sazh scratched his head. "So then, you remember what you and Hope did too, right?"

"Yeah, you two had some real chemistry goin' on there," Fang nodded her head.

Noel buried his face in his hands in utter mortification, as Hope turned to him, looking taken aback. Just when the brunet thought things couldn't _possibly_ get any worst—

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Fang! Noel had _so_ much more chemistry with Snow than he did with Hope!" Vanille argued.

"What're you talkin' about? Noel actually used his—"

"OKAY THAT'S ENOUGH!" The brunet shouted, face completely red. "We don't need to hear the details!"

Vanille giggled. "Oh, don't be embarrassed Noel. You're a pretty good kissa."

Noel glared at her. "I didn't ask."

"Hey now, don't start gettin' mad an' all, you had fun while doin' it," Fang grinned.

Snow looked from Fang, to Noel, to Vanille. "Oookaaaayyyy. Besides for needing to wash my mouth out with antiseptic tonight, is there anything _else_ I should know about last night before we go home?"

"Yeah, you're a pretty good kissa too," Vanille chuckled. "See, that's why you and Noel would have the most amazing—"

"Okay, you can stop right there!" Snow held up a hand, regretting that he had asked her.

Hope looked from Snow to Noel, before shaking his head. "I think this is the _last_ time I'm going to be drinking with _any_ of you."

"Agreed," Noel muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Who dared me to kiss you guys, anyway."

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Sazh looked over at the brunet, who in turn looked at him, shaking his head. "It was Vanille. She pretty much dared everyone ta kiss her last night, an' then she dared you ta do your thing with Hope an' Snow."

The redhead made an indignant sound. "Sazh!" She exclaimed, stomping her foot. "You weren' supposed ta rat me out!"

Sazh shrugged. "Listen, if you're gonna sit here an make fun of all of 'em, gotta make sure you take responsibility for what happened in the first place."

Vanille groaned, as Noel turned to glare at her. "Thanks Vanille. I'll remember this next time you need a favor."

"Oh please, you had fun an' you know it. Besides, you an' Snow had some real chemistry there. There was all this tension an—"

"OKAY WE'RE LEAVING!" Noel yelled, cutting her off, as he grabbed hold of Yeul's hand. "I think I filled my gay quota for the year!"

Vanille giggled, as she waved. "See you later then!"

Noel rolled his eyes, as he stalked off with his wife.

"We'd better get going too. Catch ya guys later," Snow called, raising his hand.

"Yeah, thank you everyone for all your help. Especially you, Hope. I'll see you later, Lightning," Serah hugged her older sister one last time.

"Are you sure you'll be okay? Do you need anything?" Lightning asked in concern.

"No, I'm fine. I'll call you in the morning."

"Alright then," the former soldier nodded, as she watched her younger sister walk off with her husband.

"Well, I gotta go too. I'd love to stick around an' all, but I've got a babysitter waiting for me ta get back," Sazh waved goodbye to them, as he took his leave, Chocolina flying in the air behind him.

"Guess tha' just leaves the four of us then," Fang mused.

"Ooooh! Let's go ta the karaoke bar!" Vanille suggested excitedly.

"I can't. I've got work in the morning, and I need to be alert for it," Lightning replied with a shake of her head.

"Awwwww!" Vanille pouted, looking crestfallen.

"Don't worry, we'll all go togetha a different time," Fang patted her on the head, before she turned to the former soldier. "I left some things at your place, Light, gotta get 'em."

Lightning nodded. "Okay, let's go."

Hope gestured towards Vanille. "Want me to give you a ride home?"

"Alright," The redhead nodded. "I'll meet you back home, okay Fang?"

"Sure thing."

The four of them parted ways. Hope shook his head, letting out a sigh as they walked to his car. "I'm going to send Lumina a thank you card first thing in the morning that she spiked one of the bottles. At least I'll never have the memory of last night to haunt me."

"Aww, but it was fun!" Vanille exclaimed, as she swung her arms around blithely. "An' everything seemed to have worked out in the end, didn't it?"

Hope nodded, as he unlocked the doors. "I guess. At least Snow and Serah are finally back together."

They both got in, as Hope drove them through the darkened roads. Vanille let out a sigh, relaxing against the headrest of the front passenger seat. The director looked over at her with a slight smile.

"Tired out?"

"Still a little hung over. Didn't get enough sleep this mornin' y'know."

"Ah, right, sorry about that," he apologized. "But it was kind of an emergency."

Vanille chuckled. "That's alright. I'm glad we found Lightning an' Fang. An' that we were able to help Serah an' Snow too. Now we can all just forget about last night an' pretend it neva happened."

"Do you want to forget?" Hope glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

Vanille was quiet for a moment her expression contemplative. "I guess that would depend on the people around me," she said at last.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if everyone else wants to forget, than it would be rude of me to keep bringing it up. So I would try to forget about it along with them, an' I'll only remember it during times when I need to think of happy things. What about you, Hope? Do you want to forget last night?"

"I don't have the memories to begin with," the director pointed out with an ironic smile. "But I guess…I do have what you showed me." He turned onto her block, pulling up in front of the apartment she shared with Fang. He shifted the gear into park. "And what little I remember from this morning."

Vanille tilted her head forward slightly, looking at him interestedly. "You can always make new memories to replace the old ones," she answered softly.

Hope dropped his gaze for a moment in thought, before he looked back up at her, the hint of a smile on his face. "I guess…if I don't take this opportunity now, I'll regret it forever."

"That sounds like pretty solid advice. Who told ya that one?" Vanille asked, leaning her head to the side, a mischievous smile spreading across her face.

"A really smart girl I knew about 500 years ago," the director answered, grinning back.

"That's a pretty long time."

"Yeah, but somehow, I could never forget her, or her smile."

Vanille couldn't help but beam at those words, as Hope leaned in and kissed her, sweet and gentle like the rest of his personality. They broke apart after a minute, as the redhead giggled, and Hope couldn't help the smile that was taking over his face.

"So," he asked, glancing at her askance. "How do I rank in comparison to Noel and Snow?"

"I'm not sure, I think you'll need ta kiss me again to help me decide," she answered coyly.

"Oh my, that difficult of a decision?"

"No, this time's just for fun."

Hope laughed, as he kissed her again.

* * *

"What a day!" Noel exclaimed, as he and Yeul headed towards their home. The night was cool, but not chilly, making it pleasant weather for walking outside.

"It was pretty stressful," the former seeress agreed, letting out a sigh.

"I can't believe what Caius did. But even more than that, I can't believe _Vanille_. You know, for a minute there I actually thought we'd get away with no one finding out about what happened."

Yeul laughed. "It would have come out eventually. Something that embarrassing would have been difficult to keep secret for long. At least we have plenty of time to forget about it before we see each other again."

"Guess that's the bright way of looking at it," the brunet shook his head.

It was silent between them for a few moments as they walked. Finally, Yeul spoke.

"Noel."

"Hmm..?"

The former seeress looked down. "I'm sorry for getting upset with you earlier."

The brunet blinked, as it took him a second to remember what she was talking about. "Oh, I forgot about that. So you _were_ mad after all."

Yeul shook her head. "I was not mad, I was upset."

"Okay," he grinned at her. "Same difference. Are you going to tell me why? Was it the dares that got you upset?"

"No. It was that you got angry at me for not stopping you from doing them."

Noel slowed his pace down until he came to a stop, turning to face her. Yeul followed suit. There was silence between them, as the brunet looked down in remorse.

"I'm sorry Yeul, you're right. I did get pretty mad at you for something you didn't have much control over."

"I'm sorry too, for not telling you this right away. I felt so hurt at the time, and you were so aggravated, I felt if I were to say something, it would only make things worse. But I should have told you after you woke up, instead of acting coldly indifferent towards you."

Noel looked down, his expression pensive. "I'm glad we're talking about this now, though," he said at last, looking up at her. "And while we're on the subject, I'm sorry for not trusting you more."

Yeul looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"Earlier, with Caius, when he made it sound like you were keeping secrets from me. You had every reason not to tell me about last night, at least not right then, but I forced you to anyways. I let his words rile me up, and I didn't want to listen when you said you'd tell me later. I'm sorry."

Yeul felt a smile spread across her lips, lighthearted and effervescent, as she looked at her husband with affection in her eyes. "Apology accepted."

Noel mirrored her smile. "I'm glad," he turned forward as they resumed walking. "Maybe now we can finally go back to things as normal, and forget last night ever existed."

The former seeress chuckled. "It was a memorable experience."

"For you, maybe," he answered disgruntledly, pausing a moment before casting her a sideways glance. "The kisses last night really didn't bother you?"

Yeul looked down for a moment. "Perhaps a small amount, at the time, but I knew that you were drunk, and that you would never have done it if you were sober. Add to the fact that you were under the influence of whatever drug Lumina put into the alcohol; it does not surprise me now that you went along so willingly with every dare. It actually makes a lot of sense."

They reached their home. Noel pushed open the front door, walking inside; the place seemingly warmer and more inviting then it had been a few hours before.

"So, I'm forgiven then?" He asked, continuing their conversation from outside, as they removed their shoes by the foyer.

Yeul straightened up and turned to him with a smile. "Yes, you are forgiven."

"Good." Noel reached forward to run his fingers through her long blue hair, smoothing it away from her face. "So I guess, I should be making good on my promise too."

Yeul looked up at him inquiringly, as she leaned against the wall, folding her arms. "What promise?"

"I told you this morning that if you tell me about last night, we would do _other_ things, remember?" Noel answered with a grin, moving in to close the distance between them.

The former seeress looked contemplative for a moment. "I thought our agreement was that you would let me go. I do not recall agreeing to anything else."

"You're right. I think I was just in middle of convincing you," the brunet answered, as leaned in and captured her lips with his own. Kissing felt incredibly good after a day spent mostly at odds with one another. Yeul's arms came up to circle around his back, as Noel pressed her shoulders into the wall. Just as things were starting to get heated, the ringing of the phone cut across their consciousness, shattering them out of whatever private world they'd been inhabiting.

Noel paused as the sound came a second time, then a third. Reluctantly he pulled away, giving a resigned sigh. "I'll get it."

He went to move towards the kitchen, but Yeul held onto him, holding him back. Noel looked at her in surprise, as the former seeress smiled, shaking her head.

"No, let it ring. We can ignore it."

"But, what if it's important?" Noel raised a brow at her.

"If it is, then they will call again. Otherwise, we can let the answering machine pick up."

The brunet still looked unconvinced, as Yeul began pulling him down the hallway by the arm. "Come."

"And just _where_ are you taking me?" Noel asked, looking at her in a mixture of intrigue and amusement.

Yeul didn't answer, as she cast him a smile full of secrets. They reached their bedroom, the phone going silent just as the door to their room was shut.

* * *

"Home sweet home," Snow sighed, as he and Serah walked into their house for the first time in over 24 hours.

Serah turned on the lights, as her husband shut the door behind them. She took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Yeah, it feels like forever since we've been here," she mused, a smile on her face.

"How are you feeling?"

The pink-haired woman closed her eyes for a moment. "A bit shaken, to be honest. But I'm also relieved, that this is finally over." She turned to look at her husband. "I didn't think Caius would take things this far."

"Serah…I'm sorry," Snow began, but was interrupted when his wife wrapped her arms around him.

"No, it's okay. I'm just so glad we're together again. I was scared that we would never get passed this, that you would—"

"No, Serah, I would never leave you!" The blond pulled away for a moment to look her in the eye. "_Never_. I'm sorry, Serah, I should've stayed with you when you found me, I shouldn't have left you like that."

There was a pause, before the pink-haired woman spoke. "I understand why you did it, though. I'm not angry at you. I'm just happy…that we can finally put this behind us."

Snow took a moment to absorb her words, before he caressed her hair. "Forget it like it never happened?"

She nodded. "That's the best thing I've heard all night."

"Alright. Well in that case," Snow leaned down, locking his lips with his wife's, all the emotions of the day behind it. Serah closed her eyes, her arms going slightly stiff around him. Normally when her husband kissed her, she enjoyed it, and especially after the harrowing events of the day, she should be feeling nothing but a passionate desire to be with him. Instead, the kiss felt tepid, and failed to inspire her the way it normally would.

Snow pulled away, looking at her in confusion. "What's wrong?"

Serah opened her eyes, shaking her head. "Nothing. I'm just…I'm still tense and winded from everything that's happened today. I'm sorry, I don't think I can do this right now."

The blond looked at her carefully. "Are you sure that's all?"

She nodded, giving him a reassuring smile. "I'm going upstairs. I think a hot, relaxing shower is just what I need right now."

"Okay…" Snow agreed slowly, as she smiled at him again, before taking her leave.

Once alone upstairs, the pink-haired woman leaned against the hallway, a hand fisted over her chest. The sensation she had felt when Caius kissed her, and his last words before he left kept echoing inside her mind, and she couldn't seem to get them out of her head, no matter how much she tried.

"_When you are ready, I will be waiting."_

_I will be waiting…_

_Waiting…_

Serah _always_ hated making people wait.

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_The end._

* * *

a/n:

No, there will not be another chapter or a sequel. This is really it. You've reached the finale.

Thank you SO much to all the people who took their time to review and fave and alert this story. But mostly the people who reviewed, bec. you guys gave me the motivation to keep working on this story, and not just give up bec. of a lack of interest.

So probably some of you are wondering where the hell I came up with this fic and most of all this ship. So the answer to that is two-fold. Over the summer I was talking to my friend Nat on tumblr (she's here on this site too, but she keeps changing her username, so look her up by her fic "Quirks of Your Time Travelling Buddy"), and she brought it to my attention that I ship everything that's canon in this game, and have no crackships. Which is extremely, _extremely_ unusual for me, since I almost never ship canon and have at least one crack pairing in every fandom I've been a part of.

And that's how I came up with CaiusxSerah, lololol. As for the fic itself, it was inspired by the greatest blog that ever existed, textsfromffxiii on tumblr.

I've been working on this story all summer long and now I can't believe it's actually over. Omggg, I think this is the first time I actually finished a multi-chaptered fic! I can't believe it!

btw, you guys have _no idea_ how much I was resisting the urge to write what happened with Noel and Yeul after they went into their bedroom. But I felt a M-rated scene would be out of place in this story, so oh well.

Anyway, now that I've rambled, can you guys let me know what you thought of this chapter, and of the story as a whole? I tried to keep everything consistent, idk, I don't think the writing style changed between chapters. I also hope the characters weren't OOC. I thought they were okay, but that's me, of course I'm going to be biased about my own writings XD

My main goal in this fic was to make you laugh, so I hope I accomplished that...

Okay, well, please review and let me know! ^^


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